Ascension
by Epsilon Zeta
Summary: As a new threat prepares to rise, fate brings old friends back together again as well as new allies to fight the upcoming battle. Last part of Finale up!
1. First Arc, Episode I

Author's Notes: I might as well write as many chapters as I can now before my university schedule takes hold. I hope I can get things started off right since the opening chapter of my previous book caused some confusion. By the way, check out "Metropolis". It's a masterpiece.  
  
Disclaimers: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it. I certainly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or V-Tamer. "Metropolis" belongs to Osamu Tezuka and Toho Films.  
  
Ascension - V 1.1  
  
"TK? Hello, are you in there?" Patamon moved over to see the boy barely holding his head up. Textbooks and assignments were scattered everywhere throughout the room. TK gave a tiny groan. "I thought we were only gone for a few days but it turns out that a few months passed in our world! This is-"   
  
Before he could finish talking, he heard someone ring the doorbell. He gave a tiny sigh as he opened the door. His mood considerably changed when he saw who was on the front step. "Kari! What are you doing here?" He stepped aside to let Gatomon and Kari inside the apartment. The girl gave TK a warm smile. "Don't you remember the Metropolis assignment? I've finally gotten my hands on the DVD so we can watch it. Then we can start drafting our report."  
  
"Um...which question are we doing again? I didn't get time to see the assignment sheet with all the other work that I've had to focus on." Kari walked over to the DVD unit and inserted the disc. "I thought we could do the one where we had to analyze the emotional relationship between Kenichi and Tima. Unless you want to take a look at Duke Red's motivations to create a super being to rule the world and the tragic flaw behind his intentions. There are other assignment questions as well."  
  
"What's this, Gatomon? These are some weird looking Digimon." Gatomon carefully placed a deck of cards to her right after taking it out of the bag. "These aren't Digimon, silly. I found this when I was snooping around Tai's closet looking for kitty treats. It looks like a lot of fun. Wanna try?" She handed the other Digimon another deck.  
  
Almost two hours later, the end credits were rolling with the Metropolis theme song gently playing in the background. "One day...that could be our world except Digimon would be in place of the robots." TK blinked at Kari's comment. "Kari, it's just a movie. With a pretty interesting view of what lies in store for mankind."  
  
A concerned look was reflected in the girl's eyes. "Humanity is progressing rapidly. They have to in order to further understand the digital world and the Digimon. Soon we'll have a giant city connected to both worlds with Digimon and humans living together. Humans would be closer to Godhood. And Digimon would be regarded as lower forms of life."   
  
TK gave a stretch. "As Digidestined, we're the only real link to the digital world. Every country is meeting with their respective Digidestined children to gain an understanding about the digital world. Since we're the only link, we control the pace about how this Digital Revolution goes. We'll make sure both worlds understand each other before the merge is complete."  
  
She shook her head. "The rest of the world won't accept it. They want to know everything about the digital world immediately. From how they could benefit us to how to kill them all. It's that sense of control, how we always want to be in control of every aspect in a situation. And that could drive a wedge between Digimon and humans. Oh, my...it's getting late. I better get home before Tai's imagination starts to run wild. Gatomon!"   
  
"In a minute, Kari! Pretty tight lockdown you've got but let's see what the old deck can do." The champion Digimon drew a card and played it. "I'll use Pot of Greed and grab two cards from the deck...and that's it. I win." She lay out her cards before the stunned rookie Digimon. "OUIJA Board?!? That's just as hard to get as Exodia!! How...?!?"  
  
Gatomon gave a small laugh as she scooped up both decks. "I gotta go. Tell ya what...I'll get some cards to build a deck of my own and see how well I can do. You do the same...then we'll really find out who's the better player!!" Patamon gave a grin. "Yeah...that'll be fun!!"  
  
TK walked over to open the front door. "What do you mean by your brother's imagination running wild? We're good friends and all and he knows that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." Kari gave a giggle. "He thinks that you and I are more than friends simply because we've been spending a bit more time together. Besides, it's the big brother gene which always rears its ugly head when a little sister is born. The big brother typically tends to overprotect his sister, especially when romantic interests come along! In some ways, he can be worse than the father! Tai's probably cool with everything but with what's been happening recently, he's a bit tense."  
  
"I guess I can understand. How's he doing?" Kari finished packing up her stuff as she spoke. "Being a diplomat can be pretty tiring especially when he has to keep arguing about how things shouldn't be rushed. And the fact that Agumon isn't with him doesn't make things better. I was hoping to check the digital world tomorrow and see how Gennai is progressing along with the restoration."  
  
TK understood with his own brother being in the same spot. "It's going to take time. There wasn't a lot of Omnimon's data left in the Omega Sword. We were lucky that Gennai could extract it at all! It's going to take a lot to get Agumon and Gabumon to be reborn in Primary Village." He received a glare from the other girl. "There's a chance that the data patterns can be separated and reprocessed into Digieggs. We owe Omnimon big time for everything. From the Diaboromon incident to the battle with Lunarmillenniumon, he gave everything he had to help. Now we have to do everything we can to help him come home. I'll see you later."  
  
Patamon flew up behind TK as the boy closed the door. "You know, you shouldn't have said all that negative stuff about the slim chance of recovery for Omnimon." TK walked over to the couch and collapsed on the soft cushion. "I hope I didn't make her too upset or anything."  
  
The rookie Digimon gave a smile. "Ah, cheer up! She's the type who forgives easily. Especially when it comes to the guy that she likes the most." TK could feel a blush colouring his cheeks. "What are you talking about?!?"  
  
Patamon landed in TK's lap. "The signs are all there, TK! The way she looks at you, the way she talks to you...she digs you a lot!! And you like her a lot as well. Let's see how this might turn out...you two will keep dancing around each other for a year before admitting you love each other. Then comes dating...and after the high school prom, you two will probably get down to business if you know what I mean."   
  
"Patamon!! I can't believe you said that! I guess Terriermon rubbed off on you. I knew he was evil but..." TK couldn't finish the comment as he gave a soft chuckle. "Those were some pretty unique times. I wonder if we'll ever get the chance to see our friends again. But with all that's been happening, a reunion seems to be out of the question. They have their work cut out for them with everyone aware of the Digimon but it's nothing that they can't handle."  
  
************  
  
Yamaki closed the communication line before giving a silent growl. 'Who do they think they are? They don't have a clue about the Digimon dilemma. To make things more complicated, I have to deal with children. And when children are involved, the public tends to get sympathetic and soft. Looks like finesse is going to be required in order to bring them in for examination.'  
  
Although the weather was hot, as it should be expected since it's the middle of May, with the increased rate of bio-emergences as well as mysterious new non-digital anomalies popping up occasionally, the atmosphere inside the Hypnos chamber was quite cold indeed. 'And I'm supposed to find a way to bring these kids and their Digimon in with all this going on?!? This is absolutely insane. I've got to perfect the Juggernaut to create a firm barrier before our world is overrun with unwelcome visitors.'  
  
An alarm interrupted Yamaki's thoughts. "We're picking up another anomalous reading near the R-9 sector. It appears to be a digital anomaly but it's not like the other ones we've seen before," stated Megan. "Mobilize the nearest available team and get to those coordinates. I want a full report on what's happening there!"  
  
************  
  
Terriermon's eyes widened at the sight before him. "Henry, I know I shouldn't swear, especially not in front of Suzie...but what the hell is that?!?" In front of the tamers stood a giant red dinosaur. He had a red metal piece covering part of his face with eye holes for his golden eyes to see through. Gold arm rings with spikes were on both arms. He also had grey metallic parts on the back of his neck and on his hips. On his back were two giant red wings. Henry checked his Digivice for any clues. "No data available...I guess this Digimon must be from an alternate quantum reality. I knew we should have found a way to shut those quantum rifts down!!"  
  
Takato could feel a sense of familiarity emanating from this Digimon. He shook off that feeling and grabbed a card from his pocket. "If this guy is here to cause trouble, then we've got to take him out! Let's go, Guilmon!!" The red dinosaur Digimon prepared to engage the enemy. Rika gave a smirk. "Now we're talking! Renamon, you're on!!" The fox Digimon appeared out of nowhere and stood beside Guilmon.  
  
Terriermon hopped off of Henry to get room to digivolve. Moments later, Lopmon was standing right beside him. Henry looked behind to see his sister searching for a card. "Suzie, you're staying out of this fight! You too, Lopmon!!" The little girl looked up with the blue card in her hand. "But Henwy...I wanna help!!"  
  
Rika shot a glare at the other boy. "Look, Einstein...your sister's a tamer too, whether you like it or not. And we need all the help we can get to fight off all these Digimon that keep popping up!! How many times are we going to have this discussion?!?" Henry gave a frustrated growl. "She shouldn't even be involved!! She's too young!! She's-" "...a tamer. Deal with it, Einstein." The boy just grumbled as he formed a blue card.   
  
"Digi Modify!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!"  
  
MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION....  
  
"Guilmon matrix-digivolved to...Wargrowlmon!!!"  
  
"Renamon matrix-digivolved to...Taomon!!"  
  
"Terriermon matrix-digivolved to...Rapidmon!!"  
  
"Lopmon matrix-digivolved to...Antylamon!!!"  
  
"Chew on this!! Rapid Fire!!" The missiles flew straight towards the other Digimon's face and exploded point blank. But when the smoke cleared, the amount of damage actually dealt was minimal. "Talisman of Light!!" "Atomic Blaster!!" The mysterious Digimon simply walked forward and took both attacks head on. Antylamon transformed her arms into axes before charging. Then out of nowhere, the other Digimon fired missiles at her. She barely got out of the way.  
  
"Aw, man!! I wish we could bio-merge...isn't that the cue for the Digivice to start beeping with an icon or something?" Takato looked at his Digivice to find a blank screen. Henry wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "I'm not sure why we can't merge with our Digimon but I think it has something to do with our essences being reformatted as data so that our partners can accept it as a part of them. Millenniumon's presence must have given us that ability but now all we can do is get our Digimon to digivolve to champion and ultimate level."  
  
When Henry mentioned digivolving to champion, Takato's memory triggered. "Now I remember!! I've seen this Digimon before! I should have recognized him earlier!!" Rika looked at him in disbelief. "And just how do you know this Digimon? Did you somehow travel to an alternate universe when we weren't looking?"  
  
Takato shook his head. "I know this Digimon because I created him." An eerie silence followed the statement before he continued to speak. "It was some time after Terriermon had digivolved to Gargomon and started shooting everything in the parking garage. With the thought of digivolution in my head all day, I started to draw a picture of what Guilmon's digivolved form may look like. But I didn't give specific stats. All I did was give him armor to resist even the attack of a mega Digimon and a laser guided missile system. He didn't even have a name! I came to the conclusion that he was too powerful for a champion level Digimon and placed the drawing away."  
  
"Apparently, there was a quantum reality where you completed that drawing and gave Guilmon all that power. But in order to handle it, he had to tap into the destructive urges that all virus Digimon carry. That's why he has that crazed look in his eyes," theorized Henry. Rapidmon couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So not even a mega Digimon can take him?!?"  
  
They heard someone clear his voice. "A mega Digimon fall to a champion?!? That's a laugh!! You humans must be more demented than I gave you credit for." Rika stiffened as she saw Impmon with his arms crossed and a dark grin on his face. "What are you doing here?!?" The rookie virus Digimon unfolded his arms.  
  
"I was originally planning on killing all of you and uploading the data of your partner Digimon but this guy right in front is definitely more interesting. Don't worry, I'll get to killing you soon." A purple aura flared around Impmon before he transformed into Beelzemon. "Alright, you cybernetic pineapple head!! Let's see what you got!! Double Impact!!"  
  
The bullets ricocheted off the face plate of the other Digimon and destroyed some trees. Beelzemon gave a frown. "I'm obviously going to need some heavier fire power. Behemoth!!" Within moments, the motorcycle screeched to a stop in front of the demon lord Digimon. He attached his weapons to a part of the motorcycle before they changed into miniature cannons. "Try this on for size!" The cannons then fired miniature missiles towards the other Digimon.   
  
"I've gotta do something!!" Takato was about to order Wargrowlmon to provide cover fire while the other Digimon escaped when Rika placed a firm grip on his shoulder. "Have you ever heard of the expression 'he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day'? This is a good time for a strategic retreat."  
  
The missiles did a fair amount of damage as the other Digimon was having trouble standing on his feet. But his viral tendencies refused to let him go down. Instead they screamed for vengeance against the Digimon who did this. He gave a loud roar before glowing red. Beelzemon had a startled look. "What the...? He's digivolving?" He looked over to see a tiny white Digimon with a glowing red triangle on his forehead several yards away. "Ah, the little cream puff. Now's a good time as any to get rid of you..." He returned his weapons to their shotgun form before aiming.   
  
But before Beelzemon's hands could pull the trigger, something huge plowed into him. Henry gave a gasp. "Not good!! That mystery Digimon just digivolved into Blackwargrowlmon!!" Rapidmon gave a groan. "Great...I'm experiencing that feeling of deja vu. I think."  
  
"This brings back a lot of memories. It was about the time when Takatomon and I were with those other kids that he likes so much. And you were there...and you..." Taomon gave Wargrowlmon a glare. "Now is not the time to be going down memory lane. Once we escape and take Calumon with us, feel free to experience those nostalgic sensations."   
  
"You mean you've faced this Digimon before? What was he like?" asked Antylamon. "The other Blackwargrowlmon was bad to the bone. He digivolved to Shadowgallantmon and revealed himself as the dark side of our friend down there," replied Taomon.  
  
"Takato and Guilmon carry the power to digivolve into such a dark creature? Impossible! Guilmon's like a child and Takato has a pure heart!" exclaimed the rabbit Deva. "You should have seen them digivolve to Megidramon. This Blackwargrowlmon is different but not by much. I'll go fetch Calumon." Taomon quickly flew over to the catalyst's position.  
  
Beelzemon made a u-turn to face the ultimate Digimon. His jets were powered up and ready to go. The demon lord Digimon gave a dark smile. "So you wanna play chicken, huh? Alright..." He powered up Behemoth's engine to its maximum capacity before accelerating. Blackwargrowlmon shot towards the mega Digimon with his attack powering up. As soon as he was in range, he fired. "Atomic Destroyer!!"   
  
The motorcycle swerved to the right, dodging the attack and allowing Beelzemon to have a clear shot. "Double Impact!!" He fired his shotgun. Before Blackwargrowlmon knew it, the bullet went straight through the area between his eyes. Moments later, Beelzemon was uploading his data. Takato looked on in horror. "My God...it's all my fault..."   
  
"What are you talking about, gogglehead?" Before she could continue speaking, several bright lights were focused on the group as well as Beelzemon. "I do believe that is our cue to exit. Rapidmon, get ready!" Henry took out a card from his pocket. "Digi Modify!! Cherrymon's Illusion Mist Activate!!!"  
  
The ultimate Digimon quickly created a fog that made it difficult to see. Beelzemon snarled as the fog rolled in. With that and the bright lights, he couldn't see very well, even with his three eyes. "Dammit! Now I'm gonna have to hunt for them all over again!!" He quickly turned around and zoomed off into the other direction.  
  
************  
  
"I'm worried. The Master has been at this project for far too long. He doesn't seem to be concerned with regaining his strength and taking control of the digital world!" Marinedevimon looked over at where Daemon had been working for the past few months. Ladydevimon gave a smirk. "You idiot...you have to see the big picture. The power contained within that Dark Spore would allow our Master to regain his strength tenfold and give him control over the gateways between dimensions."  
  
"I never would have thought that it would take so long just to unlock the secrets of a tiny spore that contains simple programming," stated Skullsatamon. Before he could continue speaking, the chamber door opened, revealing Daemon himself. "Acheiving Godhood is a difficult task. There are human legends which speak of a fruit of the Gods, ambrosia I believe, which will grant a human the power equivalent of a God once eaten. However, the journey to obtain ambrosia is a long and perilous one. In my case, it is simply a long journey...one which I am certain is coming to an end!!"  
  
  
  
Well, that ends the first chapter. You're probably wondering 'what the hell is going on?!?' I'm working on a big picture so whatever loose ends that I've created, I will tie them up eventually. Anyway...I've been asked not to include the characters from the game Digimon World 3 into Ascension. I can understand seeing how the game story is weak. But that doesn't mean I'm going to totally abandon the idea. I may either give the characters a fairly big role in the story or just a cameo appearance. Depends on how I feel when I finish the first two arcs. But V-Tamer is going in!!! Period!!! And Alex, since you won't leave me alone about that school thing which was WAY back in chapter 11 of 'Beyond The Other Side', I'll try and make up something. Alright?!? I'll also have to think of something to get Kazu, Kenta and Jerri to become tamers themselves. Enough talking from me. Tell me what you think and I'll see you next time!! 


	2. First Arc, Episode II

Author's Notes: I'll try and explain some stuff in this chapter regarding the events that has occurred between the finale of Beyond The Other Side and the premiere of Ascension. And whatever digivolutions and other things I didn't get to in the last book will probably be featured here, okay? So enjoy!  
  
Disclaimers: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it.  
  
Ascension - V 1.2  
  
"I want to know everything about those Digimon. Their weaknesses, their vulnerabilities...you should know them considering that you were part of a team called the Monster Makers who experimented and created the first Digimon." Yamaki patiently waited for an answer from the other man. "They've evolved beyond their original programming. There's no telling what type of strengths and weaknesses they have anymore," stated Janyu.  
  
Yamaki crossed his arms. "You must have programmed some sort of failsafe, something that you can activate in case things got out of hand. Where is it? How can you activate it? I need to know...the survival of mankind depends on it!!" Janyu shook his head wearily. "We never considered that the Digimon would go this far so we never really programmed anything of the sort. For us...it was something to do for fun but there was one person who took this very seriously."  
  
"Ah, yes. The infamous Shibumi. Just as we figure who's who on your little team, he vanishes without a trace. I'm a fair man, Mr. Wong. So let's make a deal...you and your colleagues find a way to send those Digimon back to where they came from and prevent them from ever entering our world again...in return, I'll leave your son and daughter out of our little study." Janyu forced himself to stay in control of his emotions. "What have you done with Henry and Suzie? What type of study are you talking about?"  
  
Yamaki gave the other man a report. "They've been identified as part of the group that my teams have been trying to capture. My superiors want to know what makes these Digimon tick as well as this whole partner bond between the children and the Digimon. We were originally planning to bring them in and conduct tests. If you can devise a way to send the Digimon back or find a more effective solution of analyzing their weaknesses, then your son and daughter can return home safe and sound without having to fear about being captured."  
  
"Capturing children just to perform tests on them?!? No human would-" Yamaki quickly cut off Janyu. "The tests will not harm the children in any way and they're fairly standard scientific tests. Nothing unreasonable. But they may have to go to therapy since who knows how the Digimon may have warped their minds. After all, they've already refused to cooperate with us on several occasions. Once they have been psychologically evaluated, the doctors will have to determine whether they have to be confined for the safety of society."  
  
Janyu stood up quickly but before he could reach the other man, a pair of guards blocked his way. "Once the public finds out about your operation, you'll be finished!" Yamaki paused at the doorway. "They don't care about what has to be done as long as a solution is found quickly. I'll come back in an hour. Please consider your choices very carefully."  
  
************  
  
'Peace and quiet...we haven't been able to get a lot of that recently. Especially with those science weirdos, as Takato put it, chasing us, Beelzemon loose in the city and visitors not just from the digital world...but from other quantum planes as well. And now with the world aware of real live Digimon...it's madness out there. It's times like these when I wish I could get another identity. I mean, if Izzy was able to create something out of thin air for us to get into school, then I can...no. I don't have those types of connections to the digital world. Our digital world is a barren wasteland which goes by the idea of survival of the fittest. Their digital world is certainly more developed. With how they can access the network, false authentic documentation can be easily created. Then it's just a matter of hacking into other computers and reworking a few files.' Henry gave a smile, remembering the look on Izzy's face when he was asked to help him and his friends get into school, considering how suspicious it would be if they weren't in there during the day.   
  
He got up and walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. 'Just how did those agents know where to find us anyway? Our disappearance certainly didn't help things. They probably based their theories about how we're collaborating with the Digimon on our disappearance. I'm just glad I was able to get us out of there in time. Why did Suzie have to get involved? With the possibility of those agents tapping into the phone line, we won't be able to keep in touch with mom and dad. And I don't have access to a computer!!'  
  
The boy looked over to see his sister still asleep. Lopmon was secure in her arms but with the way she was trying to move gently, she wanted out. Henry slowly helped Lopmon get out of her arms. The rookie Digimon gave a stretch. "Thanks for getting me out of there." Henry smiled. "No problem. Are you going to come downstairs? Terriermon and Renamon should be back with some breakfast."  
  
"I'll come down a little later." He nodded before heading to the large staircase. Two weeks after the final battle, several businesses have decided to relocate themselves. The region had proved itself to be dangerous with several Digimon appearing in the area all at once at one time and destroying things. The tamers had had their hands full but once all the Digimon were gone, people were afraid to go back again. They found a partially destroyed hotel, which had enough space for the entire group with the part that wasn't destroyed. Even though they had found a safe place to hide, a person had to be up for a few hours of guard duty to keep an eye out for anything that may jeopardize their safety or the city (except for Suzie since Henry insisted that she get her sleep).  
  
'I can only imagine what our families must be going through. Learning that we're Digimon tamers is shocking enough...but having those mysterious agents after you doesn't help things at all.' His thoughts were interrupted by Rika giving a small yawn. "Renamon, what's up?" He looked over to see both Digimon with packages in their possession.  
  
"Breakfast is up." She placed three bags on the table while Terriermon struggled to get one on. Rika looked inside the bags. "Deep fried shrimp...sushi rolls...chicken teriyaki...Renamon, this isn't breakfast! This is an afternoon watching sumo wrestling!"  
  
The fox Digimon took a bag before moving into another room where Guilmon and Calumon were talking. Terriermon hopped off the table and followed her. "I'm just glad the laws of trade don't apply to us!" Henry gave a sigh, wondering if they're going to have to keep stealing for the rest of their lives. He decided to just take his share along with Suzie's and Lopmon's upstairs. "Morning, gogglehead."   
  
Takato took a seat and gave a sigh. He opened the package in front of him and took a piece of sushi out with his chopsticks. 'If only I didn't draw that stupid picture in the first place...' "Hey, are you alright?" He looked up into Rika's concerned violet eyes. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Because your entire sushi roll has wasabi all over it...unless you really like wasabi." Takato looked at the roll, covered in green paste. "I'm just thinking about what happened last night. You know...it was my fault that the Digimon came here in the first place. It wasn't Beelzemon's finger on the trigger. It was mine too."  
  
"Takato, that was something you had no control over. Look...Henry said that with each event comes a number of possibilities, both good and bad. When you created Guilmon, there was a good chance that he would have been killed in battle or something else. Heck, Renamon could have uploaded his data any time during our first two encounters. That Digimon that got uploaded was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. End of story. You know...in another quantum plane, he's probably saving the day as we speak. And Renamon would probably be swooning and screaming 'My Hero!!' at the top of her lungs." The boy slowly gave a smile. "Thanks for cheering me up. I shouldn't overreact to these types of things."  
  
Rika felt a sense of relief wash over her. "Yeah, don't worry about it. We better eat up before going out for patrol for any other visitors from alternate quantum planes." Takato found a glass of soya bean milk and took a sip. "I still don't really understand how they actually get back, assuming that they don't get killed and all. Remember the time when...um...that other you came..."  
  
The girl nearly choked on her teriyaki. "Don't remind me of that!! It's sickening to even think that in another timeline that Ryo's my boyfriend!! But I guess she would have been equally disgusted if she found out about us. She was here for about a little over a day before another vortex opened out of nowhere and sucked her in. There's so much we don't know about these rifts. Except they occasionally let something nasty pop out." Takato gently placed his hand over hers. "Well, whatever nasty thing pops out, we'll deal with it together." Rika gave a small smile.  
  
"Alright!! Munchies!!" Calumon dived right into his food. Renamon was sipping on her tea when she noticed something strange. Guilmon was actually taking his time eating. Normally, he would scarf down his meal until there was either no more food or he got a stomach ache from eating too fast. She saw that he was looking at the two tamers at the table. "Guilmon, why are you watching Takato and Rika?"  
  
The virus rookie Digimon turned his head around to speak to Renamon. "Takatomon says a lot of nice things to Rika and that makes her feel happy. I wanted to hear what he said so I can say them to you and make you feel happy."  
  
Renamon could feel a small blush making its way up to her cheeks. 'He says something so simple and for some reason, I feel like melting. This concept about romance is so confusing...do I really feel anything more than friendship for Guilmon? Or is it just a reflection of Rika's relationship with Takato?' About a week ago, Guilmon had came up to her and made some rather interesting remarks.  
  
{flashback}  
  
She sat on the window ledge, enjoying the view of the full moon at night. Although it wasn't her turn for guard duty, she didn't require much sleep. "Renamon? What are you doing up?" The fox Digimon looked over her shoulder to see Guilmon. "I just wanted to see the stars and do some thinking."  
  
"Okay." He was about to walk away when he decided to ask her the question that was nagging at him for quite a while. "Renamon, for some reason, I feel all funny around you. I don't feel this way when I'm around Takatomon or anybody else. Just you. Why is that?" Renamon looked at him strangely. "Where exactly is this funny feeling?"  
  
He pointed to his heart. "Right here. I also feel something funny in my tummy and...it's just that when I'm around you, I feel happier. A whole lot happier. I mean I feel very happy when I'm eating but when I'm around you, I feel very, very...very happy." She couldn't believe what he was saying. "Guilmon, are you saying that you're in love with me?"  
  
"Maybe I should go ask Takatomon about love so that I don't have to bother you anymore. Sorry." He quickly turned around to find his tamer. Renamon sat there, completely stunned by his confession. 'Maybe he doesn't know what he's talking about. But if he really does feel all this for me, what do I feel for him? Great...my personal life has become some big cosmic joke.'  
  
{end flashback}  
  
"You want to say some nice things to her? Let me give you a hand!! I've got some great pick up lines that will drive her to the point where she won't want you to move an inch away from her!!" She snapped out of her thoughts to see Terriermon and Guilmon walking over to another corner. Before she could follow, Terriermon looked back. "And don't think of eavesdropping!! This is between us mon only."  
  
As Terriermon started whispering in Guilmon's ear, Renamon made a mental note to kill Terriermon if Guilmon said anything inappropriate. "...and that is what is known as a pick up line!! Go try it out!!" Guilmon gave a grin before moving over to where Renamon was standing. He stopped before looking back at Terriermon. "Um...what does 'bang the gong' mean again?"  
  
Terriermon buried his face in his paws. "I give up...I just don't understand how a knucklehead like you can score with a fox like her without using any type of pick up line!" Renamon gave a smirk. "Your pick up lines are the precise reason why you have remained single. I would wager that many females would find manure to be much cleaner than your mouth."  
  
Terriermon's jaw dropped wide open. The fox Digimon turned her attention to Guilmon. "And that is what is known as a diss." Terriermon quickly put himself together to talk to Guilmon. "I don't know what the hell you did to win her over but do yourself a favour. Don't blow it, meatstack." At the moment Terriermon mentioned meatstack, Guilmon started to drool. "What did I just say?!? Sheesh!!"  
  
************  
  
"Positron Laser!!" Imperialdramon fired his attack at the mysterious gigantic Digimon. He was black in colour except for his face, some parts of his body and his two giant missiles, which looked like yellow faces. Behind him was a grey tower, with inscriptions on them. It was also glowing a dark purplish colour which usually meant that it was infused with dark energy. The other Digimon opened up several missile launchers on his body. "Mega Barrage!!"  
  
The other mega Digimon weaved in and out but occasionally a few missiles would hit him. "Just who is this guy?!? I don't think I've seen him in any D-1 Tamer Tournaments before!!" Down below, Taichi Yagami watched as his partner kept fighting. "Zero's gonna get worn out if you don't think of something!!"   
  
The boy turned to glare at Gabo, the Gabumon guide who accompanied him throughout his journey in the digital world. "I'm aware of that, Gabo. Maybe there's something in the notebook that can help me...I just hope that I haven't been doodling too much!" He quickly scanned through the book and found something that may be of use. "Digi Scan!!" His Digivice on his left wrist started beeping as it scanned the information on the page which mentioned the possibility of Imperialdramon transforming into a humanoid version of itself.  
  
"Imperialdramon mode-changed to...Fighter Mode!!" He looked up to see the enemy preparing for another attack. "Gargo Missile!!" Imperialdramon took off into the air to get some distance before he fired his own attack to make the missiles explode in mid air. With that taken care of, he started to dive down towards the other mega Digimon.  
  
"I've always wanted to see Zero try out that wicked combo I saw in a video game. Let's see if he can pull it off. Digi Scan!!" Taichi scanned some writing in the notebook with his Digivice. Imperialdramon landed in front of the other Digimon. "Oh, boy..." He quickly performed a move to stun his opponent long enough to stick his weapon in the centre of his chest. "Positron Laser!!" He thrust his right arm forward, giving the energy attack more power. It drilled into the other Digimon's chest multiple times before he dissipated into data. (AN: I based this on one of Long's Hyper Beast Combos in Bloody Roar: Primal Fury on GameCube)  
  
Imperialdramon gave his traditional victory pose and made a V with his fingers. "Ah, it feels so good to do that again!!" Gabo couldn't help but grin. "Looks like the 100% Combination has scored another victory." Imperialdramon turned around to face the tower that the other Digimon appeared to be guarding. "I don't know what you are but it's time that I remove you!! Positron Laser!!" He fired but a forcefield came up around the tower and negated the attack.   
  
"Maybe you should try actually lifting the tower or something." Imperialdramon nodded and moved closer but he couldn't with the forcefield preventing him from touching the tower. Taichi crossed his arms. "This may turn out to be a bigger problem than I thought. I don't think I have anything in my notebook that could help in this particular situation. We'll have to go see Lord MagnaAngemon and figure things out from there."   
  
************  
  
"Sir, the towers in the northern and western dimensions have been set up but the respective chosen children in those dimensions have defeated Galfmon and Umegagargomon," stated Diaboromon. (AN: I've gotten a name for BlackSaintGalgomon!! The um part is short for umbra which is the darker part of the shadow being cast. Also, this way it sounds like omega!! A play on words so to speak) "Well, now...we can't let their honourable sacrifices go to waste. Diaboromon, you will supervise the installation of the tower in the southern dimension. And that will leave you with the eastern dimension, Armageddemon. One more thing...please place your personal agendas aside for the duration of the mission. The last thing I need is for anyone to go out and seek revenge against those who killed you in the first place." Both mega Digimon gave a respectful bow before leaving.  
  
'It doesn't really matter what I say. Their thirst for vengeance will overwhelm them and lead them to their destruction. Oh, well. That'll just make my revenge even sweeter. Once all four towers are in place and are ready to go, I can finally take on my final form...silly children. Don't you know that Gods cannot be destroyed?'   
  
************  
  
"Did you hear that?" Ken Ichijoji stopped working on the computer. Wormmon blinked in confusion. "Hear what, Ken?" The boy went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. "I could have sworn I heard someone laughing. Maybe it's me but I've got a queasy feeling that something crazy is about to happen."  
  
I'll explain about the story behind V-Tamer in the next chapter but you can check it out for yourself at the Manga translations website! I think I gave you the site address before but in case you forgot, it's http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~wakkonat/vtamer/index.html and there is where you can read Chapters 1-3 and Chapters 14-17. I've only read those chapters so I can't do anything major with V-Tamer except incorporate what I know into the sequel. They're still working on Chapters 4-13. This is all thanks to Megchan's translations so thank you!! Give me a shout and I'll see you later!! 


	3. First Arc, Episode III

Author's Notes: Crap...the DMA Digi Dex went down. If someone could recommend a good Digi Dex to me, I would really appreciate it as more ideas can flow and I may be able to get chapters out faster. Tiny error on my part...you can only go up to chapter 17 so thanks for the reality check, Daxter127! Anyways, I'm going to be making up the scenario between Taichi, Neo, Daemon and ArcaDemon since I haven't read that far yet. Also, whenever possible, I'll use the names given by the dubbers unless it's absolutely crappy. So Alex...it's going to be MagnaAngemon and not HolyAngemon, alright? I haven't read every chapter of V-Tamer so don't bite my head off if I miss some details.  
  
Disclaimers: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it.  
  
Ascension - V 1.3  
  
Taichi stood there in the great hall, waiting for Lord MagnaAngemon to return. As soon as they had returned with the news of the mysterious tower that popped out of nowhere, the ultimate Digimon simply excused himself and left. Veedramon and Gabo were chatting with some of the Agumon that Leomon was training. Leomon had actually given some thought to his suggestion since the Agumon look a bit more rested than the last time he had seen them. He walked over to where the little rookies were talking to his two friends. "I see you guys are in better shape! How's the training?"   
  
Even though Daemon's threat had been eliminated, Leomon insisted that he keep preparing Digimon for battle in case something or someone unexpected and unwelcome arrives. "Leomon's a tough trainer but he's a bit more fair to us this time around. Thanks for talking some sense into him!"  
  
The boy grinned before noticing Veedramon's concerned face. "Zero, what's on your mind?" The champion level Digimon looked at his tamer. "The Agumon have said that they haven't seen Lord MagnaAngemon this stressed since our battle with Daemon. Everyone's speculating that he goes to talk to a giant two headed turtle whenever something of this magnitude is occurring."  
  
'A giant two headed turtle? Weird...that turtle must be a bigger guardian or something. Is it possible that he's that God that Gabo was talking about way back...?' He thought back to the time when they just started off their journey. 'So much has happened, so much has changed and yet...everything stayed the same.' He chuckled softly as Gabo started yelling at Zero after making a stupid remark.  
  
'Maybe this God knew about us and scattered the tags to help us grow as a team as well as individuals. Well, if that was the intention, then it worked better than it should.' He thought back to that fateful D-1 Tamer Tournament. His defective Digimon disqualified him from the tournament but at the same time, introduced him to a world of adventure. Actually, it was Lord MagnaAngemon who opened the gateway but it was Zero who first showed him the wonders and dangers of the digital world.  
  
They had met all kinds of Digimon during their quest to collect all five V-Tamer tags to enter Daemon's castle. But they didn't expect to run into Neo Saiba, Taichi's nemesis, in the digital world. He appeared to be on a journey to become more than human as well as become the best Digimon tamer of all. 'I wonder where the guy disappeared to. But I can't say I feel sorry for him, considering how ruthless he was to Metalgreymon.'  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by Shogungekomon practicing his singing. The boy glared at the ultimate Digimon. "Do you mind practicing somewhere else?!? I would really appreciate it!!" Shogungekomon got up with a somewhat angry look on his face. If he had been another ordinary human, he would not hesitate to squash them but Taichi is anything but ordinary.   
  
"Sure...ribbit." Taichi gave a grin as the other Digimon headed somewhere else. Ever since he and Zero had been able to drive Daemon and Neo out of the digital world, he had gained the respect of many Digimon. Well...technically, he didn't do anything. But with how well other Digimon are treating him and Zero, who is he to argue that he didn't drive Daemon out?  
  
(what actually happened)  
  
"Zero, you've got to digivolve and destroy that Digiegg before it hatches!!" Veedramon leapt up into the air and quickly digivolved to his ultimate form. "Veedramon digivolved to..." He grew blue and red wings while the horns on his head and nose grew longer. Grey shoulder plates appeared on his shoulders. His arms and legs became thicker with the nails on his feet and hands growing larger and sharper. "...Aeroveedramon!!"  
  
"Dammit!! The egg still needs a bit more time! I thought that it would hatch faster under your care," said Daemon in a cold tone. Neo didn't flinch. "I have done everything I can to speed up the egg's incubation period but with your precious missions that kept coming up...why don't you do something to stall for time? It'll only be a few more moments. Ogremon, Devimon...let's get to work."  
  
"Three ultimates against one...it looks like we won't be able to get out of this one," moaned Gabo. Taichi didn't listen to the Gabumon as he activated his Digivice. "Marinedevimon...shouldn't be a problem. We've just got to catch him off guard and attack just like last time. But these other two, I'm not sure about. Ladydevimon and Skullsatamon seem to be a bit weaker than Marinedevimon in terms of hit points however their defense abilities are greater than that of Marinedevimon. Uplink!!"  
  
As soon as the link was established, the three ultimate Digimon attacked at once. Fortunately, Aeroveedramon's reaction time had been sharpened due to the many battles he has had as Veedramon. But he couldn't make any counterattacks as the other Digimon were moving to fast. "Taichi!! A little help here?"   
  
The boy remained silent as he kept observing the movements of the other three Digimon. 'There's someone coming...hold it...now attack the area three metres on your right side!!' The ultimate Digimon fired his attack. "Vee Wing Blade!!" It struck Marinedevimon right in the chest and he was out of the fight.   
  
"Darkness Wave!!" Aeroveedramon ducked at the last minute. He heard his tamer give him an order inside his head. 'She's open!! Come in at a sixty degree vector and let her have it!!' Ladydevimon tried to move back but Aeroveedramon had already come into firing range. "Dragon Impulse!!" He followed his attack with a barrage of punches to knock her out.  
  
"Nail Bone!!" Skullsatamon came out of nowhere and jammed his staff into Aeroveedramon's ribcage. He gave a groan before toppling over. Skullsatamon gave a dark chuckle before turning to face Taichi and Gabo. Aeroveedramon struggled to get up but he found his strength drained. "Send my regards to the Grim Reaper!!" As soon as the words left Skullsatamon's mouth, he heard a loud cry from the other ultimate Digimon behind him. "Leave my friends alone!!!" Then a beam from Taichi's Digivice came out of nowhere and hit Aeroveedramon.  
  
"Aeroveedramon digivolved to...Imperialdramon!!!" The newly evolved mega quickly attacked before Skullsatamon could react. "What the fu-" "Mega Crusher!!" His giant claw slammed the other Digimon into the ground. Skullsatamon gave a final groan berfore collapsing on the floor.  
  
"That's it. Everything's in order. Now...the moment of truth." As soon as Devimon finished that statement, the wall behind them exploded. Neo had to cover his eyes from the dust. Daemon was about to yell at Marinedevimon for disturbing them but instead he saw the large ultimate Digimon fall back unconscious along with two smaller Digimon. Imperialdramon stepped forward after pushing the other three Digimon into the area. "Knock knock."   
  
Neo gave a sadistic grin. "So glad you can join us. The show is about to begin!!" Taichi looked in horror as the shell of the Digiegg containing the super mega Digimon started breaking apart. Imperialdramon charged his weapon and fired. "Positron Laser!!" Daemon stepped in front of the beam and blocked it with his hand. Neo brought his two Digivices together.   
  
"Ogremon..."  
"...Devimon..."  
"...DNA digivolved to...Skullsatamon!!"   
  
The ultimate Digimon bounced in front of Imperialdramon and prepared to attack. "Heads up!!" Skullsatamon blinked as Taichi hurled a small chunk of rock at him. This minor distraction allowed Imperialdramon to backhand Skullsatamon right into Daemon. "Get off of me!!" snarled the demon lord Digimon.  
  
Before anyone else could do anything, they all heard a large cracking noise. The egg had been completely shattered, leaving a small, grey and slimy Digimon in its place. "Oh no...we're too late," mumbled Gabo. But Taichi wasn't willing to throw in the towel just yet and neither was Zero. "Positron Laser!!" The attack slammed right into the Digimon but there didn't appear to be any considerable damage.   
  
"Behold...ArcaDemon! My new partner Digimon...I will raise him to be the best and crush anyone who gets in the way. You know what? I think I'll start with you and that pathetic excuse for a Digimon since you're here and all. It'll be good for a warm up." Before Neo could continue, the ground exploded right in front of him.  
  
Taichi gasped as Neo was thrown back against the wall. The fact that Neo was attacked wasn't the reason why he gasped. He gasped because it was Daemon who threw that blast. "Actually, my dear Neo...there's been a change of plan. I'm going to be the one who will raise ArcaDemon."  
  
Neo shook off the dizziness. "What?!? You can't be serious!! I was supposed to raise ArcaDemon!! You were the one who wanted it!! That's why you brought me here in the first place!! To raise ArcaDemon to become the most powerful Digimon of all!! Is it because you are uncertain of my loyalty to the cause?" Daemon snorted. "That is far from it, child. I have been observing the other tamer and how he handled his Digimon. From what I have seen, it seems that human emotions are key to bringing out the Digimon's true power. And I can't afford to have ArcaDemon surrounded by emotion."  
  
As the demon lord spoke, Taichi looked over at Imperialdramon. "We have an opening but as soon as you go for that thing, Daemon is most likely to protect it. So me and Gabo will provide a distraction while you destroy that Digimon, got it?" The mega Digimon had a confused look. "But I fired on it and nothing happened!"  
  
"I scanned the Digimon. That short shot took off about five percent of his health. Obviously, whatever defensive systems he has aren't yet fully developed. If you fire a continuous shot at full power for at least fifteen seconds, I think that should do it. You've got to promise me that you'll do this, no matter what happens to me and Gabo. The fate of the digital world rests on this!!" Imperialdramon wasn't happy about the situation but he gave a nod. Gabo gave a groan. "I didn't sign up for this, you know!!"  
  
"I've invested a lot of time and energy into this project and I'm not going to let a human ruin everything. ArcaDemon is going to be raised by me. End of discussion." "Positron Laser!!" Daemon turned around, expecting the beam of energy to be heading towards him but instead, he saw Imperialdramon firing at ArcaDemon.   
  
Before he could counterattack, he heard someone shout "Blue Blaster!!" The next thing he knew, his right eye was stinging like crazy. Neo got up and was about to summon Skullsatamon when Taichi came out of nowhere and landed a punch in the face. "This ends now, Neo!!!" Before the other boy could give a reply, he saw ArcaDemon burst into data. Imperialdramon powered down his weapon. "Man, that was tiring!"  
  
Daemon prepared to power up and attack Imperialdramon when he heard Neo's voice. "This is your fault!! You were the project's major problem from day one!! Thanks to you, I have to find another way to reach my goal!! But first, you shall pay!!!" Skullsatamon's power increased as Neo's anger grew. Finally, he started emitting a powerful aura. "Skullsatamon digivolved to...Ghoulmon!!"  
  
Although he still had a large amount of power, Daemon could tell that he wasn't in the best condition to deal with two mega Digimon. He considered retreating to another part of the digital world when he remembered something that was reported to him a few years ago. One of his agents had overheard the two heads of that old foolish turtle Digimon talking to themselves about Millenniumon's defeat and how one of his Dark Spores infected Ken Ichijoji.   
  
'Dark Spore...as I recall, Millenniumon's power to control, travel and destroy dimensions is unparalleled. My former master had told me stories about how Millenniumon could digivolve to a power that cannot be rivaled, how he can ascend to Godhood and how the Dark Spores are the very base of that power. Perhaps I can accomplish what my former master could not...'   
  
"Death Arrow!!" Ghoulmon fired an arrow completely made out of dark energy. Daemon leapt back to where his three unconscious minions lay. "I would love to stay and destroy all of you but destiny awaits!!" He summoned all of his strength and opened a portal beneath himself and his minions. With his laughter echoing in the air, he vanished.  
  
Neo gave a growl. "Ghoulmon!! We're going in!!" Ghoulmon flew up beside his tamer. "Are you sure? The portal looks like it's becoming unstable." The boy glared at his partner Digimon. "I was this close to achieving my goal and Daemon took that away from me. For that he will pay!!" Then both human and Digimon leapt into the portal before it closed.  
  
"Um...what just happened? Did we win?" Taichi still couldn't make sense of what had happened but he grinned anyway. "Well, we didn't technically beat them but we stopped ArcaDemon from growing up!! That's another victory for the 100% Combination!!" He flashed the V sign. Imperialdramon gave a frustrated growl. "Stupid claws!! I can't do my trademark victory pose!!"   
  
The boy gasped. "Aw, man!! That bites!!" Gabo turned around with shock and disbelief. "You two just saved the entire digital world from the most powerful menace it has seen and you're concerned with your victory pose?!?!? I can't believe I'm stuck with you two idiots!!!!" Neither the boy or his partner were listening to Gabo rant as they were too busy trying to create an alternate pose for Zero in his mega form.  
  
(now back to the present!)  
  
Taichi snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Lord MagnaAngemon coming out. "So where did you go off to?" The ultimate level Digimon looked down at the boy. "I needed to talk with the Guardian about this new threat that has come out of nowhere. He has told me that this problem may be transdimensional."  
  
He paused seeing how Taichi had a confused look on his face. "You see, your human world and the digital world compose one realm inside a quantum plane. The Guardian watches over these two worlds. However, there are three other realms that share this plane too, each with their own Guardian. I was informed of this when I first took this position." Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that other dimensions have this weird tower too?"  
  
"Precisely. I'm going to visit the Guardian to discuss this situation...and you and Zero are coming with me." The boy gulped nervously about meeting this Guardian. Lord MagnaAngemon looked over to see Shogungekomon. "You'll be in charge here until I get back. I want you to run this place as if I had not left. If you do so otherwise, I may have to find someone else to place my trust." The virus Digimon gave a small bow. "You have my word, ribbit."  
  
"So you guys are heading off to see this big Guardian? Enjoy the trip!!" Veedramon looked at Gabo. "You're not coming with us?" Gabo gave a loud laugh. "Not this time!! At almost every opportunity, you guys introduce me to the spectre of death!! I'm sitting this one out. Good luck on your journey and everything." Veedramon gave a nod before running over to join Taichi and Lord MagnaAngemon.  
  
  
HOW'S THAT FOR FILLING IN PLOT HOLES?!?!?   
  
Sorry, I needed to get that out of my system. I originally planned to have more but I didn't expect the V-Tamer segment to be this long so I decided just to stick with this. Anyway, I don't really have any idea about this whole Guard Tamers in Baihumon's realm so I probably won't involve them unless someone can tell me everything. The names of the tamers, partner Digimon, appearance, personality, etc. As for Veedramon's name...in the original Japanese version, they wrote V-Mon and when they brought it over to North America, it was changed to Veemon. That's what I'm doing here. V will be Vee. Simple as that. I've finished my insane university course registration so now I can write a bit more...actually no. I have my head in six Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett so you may not hear from me for a while. But I leave you with this quote.  
  
SQUEAK SQUEAK!! SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK - Death of Rats  
  
This is Epsilon signing off!! 


	4. First Arc, Episode IV

Author's Notes: Here I am, typing away on my old school computer, listening to several songs from different artists. I'll give the tamers and the Digidestined their proper time in the spotlight since I didn't realize that my V-Tamer segment was going to be that long in the last episode. As for the quote from the Death of Rats, I made that up but that's all he really says. He squeaks in a spooky tone that is exactly like the Discworld Death. Anyway, I have a pretty clear idea of where I want to go with the first two arcs. I just hope I'll have enough time to get them out. A segment of this chapter will be based on an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Enough rambling from me and let's get down to business!!  
  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it.   
  
Ascension - V 1.4  
  
"Davis?!? What's going on?!?" Flamedramon looked around the area but found more questions than answers. He looked behind him to see a large Davis, trying to figure out what card to play. "I'll add this Boost Chip card to increase my Flamedramon's attack power. That ends my Preparation phase. Since you don't have your Digimon out yet, I'll have to wait before entering the Combat phase."  
  
Flamedramon looked at the other side to see his partner's opponent who turned out to be none other than the Digimon Queen. A really large Digimon Queen from his perspective. "You think Flamedramon's tough, huh? We'll see how tough he really is. I'll put Renamon into play and add Black Gear to make her attack power stronger than Flamedramon's." The fox Digimon appeared out of nowhere with a blank look. Flamedramon tried to snap Renamon out of her trance but she wasn't responding.  
  
"But how? One Black Gear gives a 100 attack point increase only!! Even with that, Renamon shouldn't be able to take Flamedramon!!" Rika gave a bone chilling laugh. "Because of Flamedramon's emotional reaction to this type of Digimon, thirty percent of his attack power is subtracted from the attack points of his A, B and C attacks. And any attack bonus cards attached on him are negated. Renamon, walk all over him!!"  
  
'Emotional reaction? What does that mean? I gotta figure it out later but right now, I've got to snap that fox Digimon out of this!!' Flamedramon ran over and started to shake Renamon. "Wake up!! We need to figure out what this is all about and how to get out of here!!" But she pushed him away before leaping into the air.  
  
"Renamon, I don't want to fight you!! Not like this!! Not when you're some sort of controlled puppet..." Her blank look didn't change as she charged up her attack. Davis was scrambling to find a card in his hand to give additional defense powers to Flamedramon. "Diamond Storm!!!"  
  
Demiveemon woke up in a sweat. 'That's it!! I'm never eating three week old pickles again before taking my afternoon nap!' The little in-training Digimon rubbed his eyes before hopping off the bed. 'Geez, what's with that dream anyway?'  
  
He stepped out of the room. "Whoa!!! Sorry, almost didn't see you there little guy!" June Motomiya moved past the tiny Digimon to head into the bathroom. Demiveemon gave a tiny frown. 'Maybe I should digivolve to Veemon so that I won't be so small. But even in my rookie form, I'm still small. I wish I was bigger in rookie form like Renamon.'  
  
The in-training Digimon stopped himself. 'This isn't good...she's practically in my head!! Of all the female Digimon...I got a crush on one who comes from another dimension!' "Hey, there you are!!" Demiveemon felt himself being picked up by his partner Davis. "TP called a while ago to meet at the school. Some guy named Gennai has asked us to come to the digital world. I don't really know who he is but he seems to be important. Actually, I think Henry mentioned him once back at school when the tamers were here. We better get going."  
  
************  
  
"Wait a second!! You mean this Guardian has some sort of power to send me to another dimension?!? Just how powerful is that guy?!?" Lord MagnaAngemon looked behind him to speak to the boy. "As the Guardian of the Northern Quadrant of this quantum plane, he must possess enough power to guard this realm. The power to cross dimensions is given to him to communicate with his fellow Guardians and cross over to their realms for meetings."  
  
"Then why didn't he help us with the battle against Daemon? Not that we were in any real danger but it would have taken some pressure off," stated Zero. (AN: I'm sure all of you know who the guy is by now. But I just wanted to make sure things were set up in chapter 3, alright?) "I asked him the same question when Daemon's presence was first revealed. The Guardians can only intervene only if certain conditions allow it. Other than that, they cannot interfere with natural events. Besides, the battles with Daemon strengthened your relationship with your tamer and gave you enough experience to digivolve to mega." Lord MagnaAngemon stopped. "Here we are."  
  
Taichi looked around but didn't see anything. "Um...no offense but there's nothing except...a lot of nothing." The group waited in silence until a small hole opened. (AN: Kind of like Piximon's doorway) "Whoa." They went through the hole and moved their way through the forest until they reached a long bridge leading to a green crystal temple. Before Taichi and Zero could give a groan about walking all that distance, they were instantly transported to the front door.  
  
"I, Lord MagnaAngemon, guardian of the continent of Folder, do request admittance to the temple-" A voice quickly cut him off. "Aye, no need to go through all that gibberish!! Come on in!!" Taichi was surprised, hearing how the tone of the great Guardian felt like that of a friendly old Irish man. He shook off that feeling of surprise as he entered the temple.   
  
When he looked at the Guardian for the first time, he gave a yelp of surprise. "And I thought Zero was huge when he was in mega!! Let's see what we got..." He scanned the turtle Digimon with the Digivice on his left wrist. "Ebonwumon...has about over fifteen thousand hit points. For a guy who is supposed to be mega, his statistics are at the lower end of the barrel."  
  
"Well, what do you expect when you practically pour every ounce of juice you've got in a berserk move to try and save all four dimensions in this quantum plane?!?" Lord MagnaAngemon forced Taichi down on his knees. "My apologies. The child meant no disrespect, Great Guardian."  
  
The old Digimon gave a chuckle. "Nothing to worry about. Unlike Zhuqiaomon, I don't mind when young ones occasionally say something like that. Now you're probably wondering why I asked you to come with Lord MagnaAngemon. It's simple, really. You're going to Azulongmon's realm to try and find the cause of this tower predicament." Taichi blinked. "What?!"  
  
The other head of the turtle Digimon began to speak. "Normally I would have sent you to Zhuqiaomon's realm since they don't have a tower as well and with what's been happening there, you could blend in a bit more easily. But I'm still a wee bit out of breath from our last ditch effort against Lunarmillenniumon so I can only send you to Azulongmon's realm. And I'm going to be honest with you, my boy...you may land anywhere in either the human world or the digital world." Zero stepped forward. "It doesn't matter what happens. I've got Taichi covered!!"  
  
The boy grinned. "With Zero right by my side, then I guess I can handle whatever comes at me. And if this helps to solve that tower mystery, I'm up for it!!" Ebonwumon gave a hearty laugh. "That's the spirit, lad!! Now just stand back...I'm gonna need a wee bit of room to pull off this little trick." The vaccine Digimon focused all the energy he had and opened a vortex. Taichi looked at Zero. "The 100% Combination is going to rock that other realm!! Geronimo!!!"  
  
************  
  
"No way!! How...but the last time I...you look the same when..." TK wasn't sure how to respond to Gennai's new look. Patamon decided to ask the question that TK couldn't ask himself since his mind was absolutely boggled by the fact that instead of an old man, the younger Gennai stood in front. "How did you get so young again? It's been a long time since Piedmon attacked the fortress to get to the Crests, Digivices and Digieggs. And the face we're seeing now was the face that we saw in that vision that she showed us!"  
  
The others had confused looks, except for Yolei who was captivated by the man's handsome features, as Gennai gave a laugh. "When you sacrificed the power of your Crests to revitalize the digital world, I guess you revitalized me in the process. I would love to talk about old times but we've got to get going." "Wait. Where are we going?" asked Cody. The other man didn't reply as he was already walking in another direction.  
  
"So what exactly is the deal with him anyway?" asked Armadillomon. TK straightened his hat. "Gennai's the one who helped us throughout our journey in the digital world. He led us to the Tags and Crests at the continent of Server. He also informed us about Kari being one of us and the prophecy which gave birth to Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have been able to save as much Digimon and humans."  
  
"He's some sort of digital guardian or something? A guide to help anyone who's lost? That is so totally cool!!" exclaimed Yolei. Wormmon gave a tiny gulp. "I think she has that look in her eyes again...the one before she-" He decided not to finish his statement as he had a vague idea of how eccentric Yolei can be. "What I would like to know is why he didn't show up when Shadowgallantmon went on a rampage around the digital world a few months ago," murmured Hawkmon.  
  
"He comes and he goes...at least that's what Tai told me. Usually when he wants to talk to us, he brings some useful information. Maybe this time, he's going to give us something to make things easier...ease tensions between the humans and the Digimon," said Kari in a cheerful tone. Ken gave a shrug. "Who really knows? The only way to find out is to see where he's taking us."  
  
************  
  
"I'm sure you're aware of how my partner here can delete you at any time. But I have a few questions to ask so if you answer them right, you may get to live. Answer wrong and my partner will upload your data." Neo gave a dark smile. Here in this digital world, whenever a Digimon is killed, the winner absorbs the loser's data which makes them stronger. This turned out to be an interesting development but his first concern was trying to find a way out. And all the other Digimon he had interrogated did not provide good information.  
  
Orochimon wasn't sure what to do. He's tried to use his usual tricks but they weren't enough. Now he was at the mercy of this human and his Digimon. "Now, is there a way out of the digital world?" The ultimate Digimon slowly gave a reply. "There are two known ways out of the digital world. One way is to upload enough data. You see, there is a myth that if a Digimon obtains enough data, that Digimon can go to the real world and find a tamer but it wouldn't suit your purposes. The other way is to see the Digimon Sovereign, the one who protects the digital world. That is all I can tell you."  
  
"Very well then. Then we're off to see the Sovereign. Skullsatamon...show this Digimon our gratitude." The ultimate Digimon leapt forward. "Nail Bone!!" Orochimon had no time to scream before he dissipated into data. As Skullsatamon uploaded the data, Neo felt a new anxiety growing inside him. 'Once that Sovereign opens a portal, we can upload his data and that should give us a real power boost. Then we can finally show Taichi that he is indeed a third rate trash tamer!!'  
  
************  
  
"Look at all of these mountains!! It's like something out of a Chinese painting or something!" exclaimed Yolei. Gennai didn't say anything as he continued to lead the group higher into the atmosphere. It was a bit foggy so everybody tried to stay close together. "What is this place, Gennai?" asked Gatomon.  
  
He paused and looked up in the sky. Davis looked up as well and gawked. "I think I saw something huge moving in those dark clouds!!" The others gave startled gasps when they looked up themselves. "That's Azulongmon, one of the four Holy Beasts who protect the digital world. He asked me to bring you here," said Gennai. The dragon slowly emerged from the clouds.  
  
"Greetings, chosen children. I suppose you're wondering why I have summoned you. I have heard some rather disturbing news. Mysterious towers have recently appeared in the Northern and Western digital worlds. These towers have been radiating with a certain type of dark energy that cannot be identified." Ken felt a pang of guilt hit him. "A-are they control spires?"  
  
"Not exactly. These towers are grey in colour with some sort of inscription on all four sides-" Before he could continue, Veemon interrupted him. "Sorry to interrupt but what do you mean Western digital world and Northern digital world? Is it like the other digital world that we went to? The tamers' digital world?"  
  
"In this quantum plane, there are four different sectors, each with one human world and one digital world. The sectors are in the Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern directions. The tamers who came here originated from the Southern sector...which is where you will be heading." "What?!?" Everybody had a shocked look except for Gennai.  
  
Azulongmon waited for everyone to calm down a bit. "My realm and the realm in where the tamers reside are the only ones that have not yet received one of these towers. Normally I would prefer if you stayed here to keep an eye out for things in the digital world as you are the only ones strong enough to deal with almost any Digimon but the Southern sector's dimensional barriers are weak, making it easier for other beings from alternate quantum planes to visit. I can only imagine how the tamers are dealing with this crisis. With them having their hands full and no way to enter the digital world, I'm going to send you to keep an eye on things. I know for sure that Zhuqiaomon is not going to be very happy about this but he's decided to accept your assistance in this matter." Davis startled complaining. "So we're going to the digital world...aw, man! It was such a drag, being a wasteland and all those weird vacuum things!!"  
  
"To be honest, I'm not sure if my concentration is good enough to send you to the digital world...you may end up in the human world instead. However, you've spent some time there and hopefully you should know how to keep a low profile. If anyone wishes to back out, do so now. I will not think any less of you." Veemon grinned. "Are ya kidding? There's a possibility that I can...that is, we can run into our friends again!! Maybe team up to solve this mystery!" 'This must be Fate telling me that I'm gonna get the girl!! I hope...I mean, if I run into her again...I better keep my fingers crossed.'   
  
************  
  
"Just how does the world work? Simple. It's all about power, dominance and submission. The world will be run by those who have power while the weak simply accept that they can never get anywhere and take their rightful place as the people who do the dirty work. Now, you've got the power but you're still acting like a sniveling weakling...what's wrong with this picture?" Takato tried to shut out the voice.   
  
He always came back to rant on about general things in his life whenever the boy simply wanted to be alone in his mind. 'I guess I have to keep enduring this...I did accept him in the end and I've gotta stick by it.' So far, the morning had been uneventful and he had hoped that it can stay that way for the remainder of the day.  
  
His gaze drifted off to a bird who had just landed closeby. 'I wish I was like you...you get to fly freely in the wind, going where you want to go.' Takato gave a sigh as he looked at his Digivice. 'It was so cool at the beginning...now, it's becoming some sort of burden. But I've got to bear it like Rika and Henry. Heck, even Suzie has accepted the burden of being a defender of the world!' Guilmon looked at the bird as if deciding whether he should try and eat it.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Suzie come up from behind him. "Henwy sent me to get you, angwy kid. There's a wot of..." Before she could finish, Takato heard an explosion followed by Henry yelling at Rapidmon to dodge the attack. So much for an uneventful morning. "Let's get to work, Guilmon. Suzie...just stay close and be careful." Without any further words, the two tamers started running to join the battle.  
  
  
Wow...I actually found the time to get this out. Well, nothing much for me to say except this is Epsilon signing off!! 


	5. First Arc, Episode V

Author's Notes: I've been having some recent computer problems so if this took a bit longer than usual, you can blame it on my old machine (which is super old by computer standards. Let me give you a hint...this was considered state of the art when Terry Pratchett wrote "Lords And Ladies") and so after constantly reminding my parents to get me a new computer, they've finally given in. So I'm going to be window shopping for a new computer which will allow me to (A) download the Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories ROM and play it for several hours a day for the rest of the summer, (B) do tons more stuff that my old machine can't handle and (C) browse the Internet faster. Right now, my Internet always gets messed up after a few minutes of browsing on FanFiction.Net. I don't know why to be honest but it's gotta be my machine. Whatever...go to the chapter already!  
  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it.   
  
Ascension - V 1.5  
  
'Ebonwumon did say that the Dark Ocean is connected to all four realms. I don't suppose he mentioned anything about being connected to parallel universes. I guess that's how all the Digimon I've fought recently apparently seem to know me.' Ryo Akiyama fought off a crazed Digimon, who had been taken over and enhanced by this weird mega Digimon, named Parasimon. He didn't know where this guy came from but this parasite claims that it was him who ruined his goals.   
  
"Justice Kick!!" Justimon knocked his opponent off balance and proceeded to follow up his attack. "Thunder Clap!!" He slammed his right arm down on the pavement, sending a powerful shockwave towards the other Digimon. 'At least I'm getting the hang of this whole biomerging thing and fighting as one with my partner!'  
  
His new ability to biomerge came from the fragmented data of a Digimon that was floating around in the Dark Ocean about five days after they were stranded. The legendary tamer had no idea how it came to their realm and what had happened to that other Digimon. Despite Ryo's protests, Cyberdramon had uploaded the data for himself. And the next thing they knew, they had became one powerful force to be reckoned with.  
  
"Look...whoever you are. I have no idea about your delusion that my supposed love for Rika helped her to overwhelm you in the end but I'm ending this right now!! Voltage Blade!!" He charged forward with all his might and thrust his arm right into his opponent's stomach.   
  
Before the other Digimon dissipated into data, something quickly detached off of him and went straight for Justimon. His left arm shot up, catching the squirming parasite. "When you have a host, you're as bad as they come but without one..." Justimon tossed the parasite to his left before attacking. "Thunder Clap!!" Parasimon had no time to react as the shockwave destroyed his frail form.   
  
"Well, that was interesting. What next, Ryo?" Monodramon's chirpy voice rang through his head. (AN: The other tamers biomerged when their partners were in their rookie stages so I'm sticking with that assumption in this case, regardless of what was on the show) Before the legendary tamer could reply, he noticed something strange in the water. He walked over to the dark water and saw a small whirlpool forming.  
  
"What is that?" He flew over just to take a closer look but his whole body started to tingle. 'Not good!!' At that precise moment, Justimon split into Ryo Akiyama and Monodramon. Then, the both of them fell into the whirlpool. Ryo tried to grab some air before he got sucked into the whirlpool. He tried to find Monodramon but everything was going too fast for him. The legendary tamer shut his eyes as he spun out of control.  
  
************  
  
'Man...I thought that with all these Digimon attacks that school would get cancelled or something!!' Kazu walked down the sidewalk that would eventually get him to the playground where he, Kenta and Takato would play Digimon cards before school started. 'Takato and his friends probably got their hands full trying to save the world from wacky Digimon. And what do they get?'   
  
The boy stopped at an intersection and waited for the walk light to come on. 'They get to be free...but I probably bet a lot of government agencies would like to dissect them and see how this whole tamer business works. It's not fair for them...seeing how they do so much and yet they are still treated like public enemy number one, not only in the eyes of the government but to a lot of people too!! Public opinion about real Digimon isn't that high and they are Digimon tamers...guess that makes them unpopular too.' He blinked as the area started to get foggy. 'What the...looks like the weatherman's off today.'  
  
An explosion inside the fog startled the boy. He wanted to run away but he couldn't get his legs to move. "Prepare to meet your programmer!!" Kazu gasped when he heard someone shout those words. The feeling of fear had been replaced by a curiosity and he went further inside the fog. "No way!!" In front of him, a Mekanorimon and a Guardromon were fighting viciously...well as vicious as machines could get.  
  
The Guardromon noticed the boy just standing there in awe. "Get out of here!! It's not safe!!" Before he could react, the Mekanorimon fired his attack. Guardromon fired his jets and took the hit. Kazu knelt down by the robotic Digimon. "You took that hit for me...why? We've only known each other for twenty seconds! Are you okay?"  
  
"I have been raised to protect the innocent and fight in the name of justice! I've also taken worse damage. I'll survive." Guardromon got up and prepared to attack. The boy looked up at the Mekanorimon who was preparing to fire again. "Aim for the dome on the top. There should be a pilot in there. Once you get rid of it, the Mekanorimon should shut down!!"  
  
"For a human, you're quite an expert on this type of stuff! Alright...Guardian Barrage!!" The missiles exploded right in front of the dome. After the smoke cleared, Guardromon noticed that someone was indeed inside the pilot's seat. Before he could recover, the robotic Digimon opened the dome, yanked out a Gazimon and jumped off to the side.   
  
"You will no longer terrorize innocent humans and Digimon!!" He raised his right arm and fired a missile, destroying the Mekanorimon. With that done, Guardromon released the Gazimon in his hand. While the Gazimon ran off, Kazu noticed something glowing inside his pocket. "Don't tell me that the Digimon booster pack I bought is messed up or something...whoa!!!"  
  
In his hand, one of the common cards from the pack turned into a blue card. Kazu opened up his pouch on his waist and slid the card through the card reader. It crackled for a bit before transforming into a brown Digivice. "I don't believe it...I guess that makes you my tamer!" Kazu looked over at Guardromon and grinned. The celebration was short lived as another explosion took place several blocks away from where the two were standing. Kazu narrowed his eyes. "Let's check it out, Guardromon!!" At that moment, his Digivice formed a compass to show them where this new disturbance took place.  
  
"I've gotta be insane!!" Kenta was berating himself for getting involved in this situation but when one looks at it...that little pink Digimon wouldn't last five minutes against the other larger Digimon. He recognized it as a Dokugumon, a spider Digimon that would devour anything that was caught in its web. Before the spider Digimon could get closer to the tangled duo, help arrived. "Guardian Barrage!!" Dokugumon leapt out of the way of Guardromon's missiles.  
  
"Looks like it's up to us to save the day!! Go get him, Guardromon!!" Kazu took out his new Digivice. 'Alright...I remember Takato showing me his Digivice. It can give statistics on the opposing Digimon...and the slot on the right is for slashing cards!!' He reached into his pocket and groaned at the limited selection. "Well...this is the best I've got at the moment. Guardromon, we've got to cut those webs to make things a bit more even!! Digi Modify!! Snimon's Twin Sickles Activate!!"  
  
Guardromon's arms changed before he fired the attack. Kenta and the other Digimon were immediately freed and most of the webbing had been cut. Dokugumon prepared to attack again when the tiny Digimon blew a heart shaped bubble. "Pu!!" Before the spider Digimon could react, it was too late. Kenta looked on in surprise. "That bug's completely trapped!! Whoa..."  
  
Kazu raised his Digivice to scan the pink Digimon. "No wonder this little guy trapped Dokugumon so easily. According to this, our friend here is a mega Digimon!! His name's MarineAngemon and his specialty attack is Kahuna Wave." Kenta gasped when he saw the Digivice in his friend's hand. "Since when did you become a Digimon tamer?"  
  
"Me and Guardromon hooked up a few minutes ago. We beat up a Mekanorimon who was actually a Gazimon in a suit!" Kazu would have kept rambling on but Kenta was preoccupied with his new friend. "With that type of look, nobody would think you're a mega Digimon!! Talk about giving a false sense of security to your enemies!!"   
  
Before MarineAngemon could give a reply, the entire area became brighter. The light then focused on one spot as an object was made. Kenta gasped as the silver Digivice floated towards him. "F-for me? Does that mean...wow!! I'm a Digimon tamer!! And I think you're my partner!" MarineAngemon simply landed himself on Kenta's shoulder and gave a cheerful smile. "Sheesh...now anyone can be a Digimon tamer these days," grumbled Kazu.  
  
Kenta's Digivice went off, detecting Digimon in another direction. "Well...now that we're Digimon tamers, that means we'll have to hook up with Takato and the others! After we stop by the playground to grab our cards, we deal with the Digimon and find our friends!" Kazu grinned. "Hey!! Now I have a good excuse to skip school!!"  
  
************  
  
"Everyone, get off!!" yelled Davis. The Digidestined along with their partner Digimon landed in a gigantic pile in the middle of the street. Armadillomon looked up. "Well, at least we know that this ain't their digital world. The sky looks clear and all." Cody brushed some dust off of his clothes.  
  
"I don't suppose we can hook up with our friends...maybe get them to come along. This is their native realm after all," stated Ken. Before anyone else could give their opinion about that particular idea, they heard several vehicles coming to a halt. "It appears that someone has observed our entry. We better leave quickly," stated Hawkmon.   
  
Yolei looked around. "They probably cut off all means of escaping on foot. Let's hope they didn't think of cutting off our escape route in the sky!!" While Davis, Ken, TK and Yolei waited for their partners to digivolve to their champion form, Kari used her Digiegg to allow Gatomon to armor-digivolve. "Digi Armor Energize!!"  
  
"Veemon digivolved to...Exveemon!!"  
"Wormmon digivolved to...Stingmon!!"  
"Hawkmon digivolved to...Aquilamon!!"  
"Patamon digivolved to...Angemon!!"  
"Gatomon armor-digivolved to...Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!!"  
  
They all took off into the air with Nefertimon carrying Cody and Armadillomon and the other Digimon carrying their respective partners. "Well that was easy enough...on second thought, never mind," said Cody as he took notice of the helicopters following them. "Davis, hang on!!" Exveemon tossed Davis up on his shoulders and prepared to deal with their current problem. He focused himself before firing his attack. "Vee Laser!!" The beam wasn't as strong as a normal attack since they only wanted to disable their pursuer.   
  
"Hey!! I can make out a few objects some distance from here. One looks green, another red, a third white and I can't recognize the fourth! And they all look like they're neck deep in trouble with that big swarm!!" exclaimed Stingmon. A look of determination made its way to Kari's face. "Then it's up to us to give them a hand!"   
  
************  
  
He couldn't understand it. He thought the reason why he experienced the pain whenever his partner Digimon got hurt was because he created him. In essence, Guilmon represented a part of his soul. In the past, whenever the other Digimon got hurt, the only discomfort that was experienced by his fellow tamers was worry over their partners. But now, all of them were feeling the pain of their Digimon...even Suzie.   
  
'Perhaps this whole tamer bond runs a lot deeper than we imagined.' Takato tried to focus on the task at hand and prepared to use another card. 'Man, we could really use some help from Grani right about now!! Just where is Grani anyway? Nobody has seen it since the last battle against Lunarmillenniumon. That shockwave...I hope it didn't damage Grani or anything!!'  
  
"Aaarrrggghhh!!" Henry clutched his shoulder as an attack caught Rapidmon by surprise and damaged his left shoulder blade. Before their opponent had another opportunity to attack, Antylamon quickly stepped in and used her axes to finish the job. Suzie rushed to her bigger brother and held him tight. "Henwy!!"  
  
"Dammit!! There's too many for us to take on!!" Rika had a look of frustration on her face. She wasn't in good shape considering how much damage has been inflicted to Taomon. But they still kept on fighting. "Talisman of Light!!" This attack took out another Digimon but it gave an opening for another enemy to attack.   
  
As the attack hit Taomon's chest, Rika felt the full blow to her centre and coughed up a bit of blood. Takato looked on in horror. But with Wargrowlmon already occupied and the fact that he's not faring so well, he was forced to stay put. Taomon had already dedigivolved back to Renamon. She didn't have a lot of strength left and the enemy Digimon was advancing to finish her off. 'Rika...I'm sorry.'   
  
But before the enemy Digimon could attack, a blue blur knocked it off balance and tossed him over his shoulder. While in mid air, their new ally crossed his arms and fired his attack. "Vee Laser!!" Although that wasn't enough to destroy the Digimon, Stingmon quickly went in for the kill. "Spiking Strike!!"  
  
"And that's the end of that chapter...with lines like these, I can be an action hero!!" Exveemon gave a toothy grin before noticing Renamon. "Geez, are you alright?!? Stupid question...we need to get you healed right away!" The fox Digimon could only stare in disbelief. 'Oh dear God...my personal life really has become a cosmic joke.'  
  
Takato and Henry noticed the new Digimon. "Hey!!" The two of them looked and found their old friends with smiles on their faces. "Need some help?" Henry gave a small smile. "Is that a rhetorical question?" Davis blinked and scratched his head. "What does rhetorical mean?"  
  
The other Digimon took notice of the presence of the newcomers and prepared to attack. Fortunately, it wasn't anything the Digidestined couldn't handle. "Rock Cracking!!" Digmon shattered the earth with his drills, causing the enemy to slip up while an all out aerial assaultwas launched by Stingmon, Nefertimon, Angemon and Aquilamon. "Spiking Strike!!" "Rosetta Stone!!" "Hand of Fate!!" "Blast Ring!!"  
  
Most of the Digimon were defeated easily since they were mostly champion levels although there were some ultimates. Slowly, things seemed to settle down for the most part until most of the Digimon belonging to the Digidestined started acting strangely. "Stingmon!! What's wrong?" The champion level Digimon slowly sank to the ground. "I don't know, Ken. It's like I'm slipping or something." He didn't say anything else as he transformed back to Wormmon. The other champion Digimon felt the same way but they swore that they did not dedigivolve on their own will.  
  
Rapidmon accessed his internal computer. "I hope that my systems didn't get too damaged in that last skirmish!! Here we go...I'm detecting some sort of energy wave that is coming from...five hundred metres to my right!!" They all looked over to see a large Digimon, looking at them with contempt. Takato looked at the statistics on his Digivice. "Diaboromon, mega level Digimon. Specialty attack is Catastrophe Cannon..."  
  
"Hold it...there's something a little messed up about this dude...according to my readings, this guy is made out of the same material as those wacky control spires!! I mean, this guy's practically identical to that wacky control spire Cyberdramon in terms of molecular structure!! He's a walking, talking control spire!!" exclaimed Rapidmon. Yolei gave a small gasp. "But how can a control spire Digimon do this? We've never had this problem before!!"  
  
"Well, I'm assuming he comes from another quantum plane or something. Maybe their control spire Digimon are tougher to beat," stated Henry. Diaboromon studied them for a moment before a sparkle of light appeared behind him. Then he disappeared. Renamon's eyes widened slightly. "Diaboromon's...heading for the digital world!! I can feel the data stream when that portal opened!!"  
  
"That reminds me...what are you guys doing here?" asked Rika in a slightly croaked voice. She had to lean on Takato for support. The Digidestined knew that they would have to answer that question. "It's a long story but we should get somewhere a little less out in the open before we can talk," said TK.  
  
The tamers quickly agreed and were about to depart when they heard shouting. "Yo, chumley!!! How's it hanging?!?" Takato gave a tiny groan but that was replaced by surprise when he saw his two friends with partner Digimon. "Man, it was amazing!! We were able to become Digimon tamers!! Hey, isn't that the Digidestined?!? That is so cool!!!" Kazu and Kenta kept on talking up a storm until Rika summoned all of her strength to yell at them. "Quiet, you morons!!!!" She coughed a little after that, seeing how she wasn't at full strength.  
  
Henry looked at the Digidestined as well as the two new tamers. "You can all come to our little sanctuary and we can swap stories. This should also give our Digimon time to heal and us time to plan what to do after." The others nodded in agreement. By the time the military got to the location where the disturbances were reported, the children and the Digimon were long gone.   
  
  
In the next chapter, Taichi and Zero will get some feature time and maybe I can squeeze in something for Beelzemon. As for Ryo...he'll eventually get to join the team but for now, I gotta do this to him. I'm sure Rika wouldn't mind if he kept going through eternal torment. I'm still working on finding a way for Jerri and Alice to make their debut in this book. That reminds me. Maybe I can toss in Ai and Mako too. So many possibilities, so little time... 


	6. First Arc, Episode VI

Author's Notes: Approximately a few days after I post this, my pre-university freak out will begin...correction. It has already begun.   
  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Fox, Saban, Toei Animation and whoever else owns it.   
  
Ascension - V 1.6  
  
'Travelling through dimensions is even crazier than riding on a roller coaster!!' The sensation that Taichi Yagami felt was the exact same sensation as any human would feel during freefall motion. The boy tried to relax but the ride was extremely intense. Finally, he felt fresh air upon him once more, which indicated that they had reached their destination. He didn't notice it since both he and Zero appeared right in the middle of the sky. "Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"  
  
Moments later, two loud splashes could be heard as the two dropped into a large swimming pool. Taichi frantically swam up to the surface and gasped. He looked around to see several people staring at him in shock. "Taichi, are you alright?" Zero came up right behind his tamer. "Yeah. Let's get out of here..." The Digimon led the way to the change room with Taichi right behind him.   
  
Taichi grimaced as his clothes clung to his soaking skin. "Man, I'm soaking wet!! I don't suppose...Zero, where did you get that?" Zero held up a sports bag which had a set of dry clothes and a towel. "You're wet so I grabbed these so that you can change into them. I think they should fit you since you're pretty scrawny. Why? Besides, you can't save the world looking wet and all." He dropped the sports bag before checking the change room door. Some people were approaching but a single glare from the champion Digimon made them think twice, especially with the Digimon incident still fresh in their minds.   
  
The boy just wanted to strangle his Digimon right there but he had to remember that Zero had never been to the human world and he only knows what his tamer told him. He checked his Digivice and notebook. The Digivice was okay but the notebook was another matter. While Taichi changed into a simple white t-shirt and jeans, Zero used one of the mechanized dryers to try and salvage what was left of the notebook. After strapping his Digivice on his wrist and his goggles to his head, he gave Zero a look. "I suggest we leave before anything else happens."  
  
They quickly made their way out of the change room and eventually made it on to the streets. After running for a minute to a more safe location, they gave a huge sigh. "That was a close call!!" Before the boy could agree with his partner Digimon, he heard a woman call out his name, or what sounded like his name except for the surname, in a strict manner. "Taichi Kamiya!!"  
  
He stopped and slowly turned around to face the woman. "Just because you're still involved in this digital world business doesn't give you an excuse to lie to me about missing tofu night!!" She paused. "Who's your friend here?" Being the mother of a Digidestined helped made her feel more comfortable being around Digimon. Before Taichi could say anything, Zero took advantage of this opportunity. "I'm a friend of Taichi. We met in the digital world. I'm a Veedramon but you can call me Zero, which is short for Zeromaru. And you would be..."   
  
The woman smiled. "I'm his mother!! It's so nice that you're here to support him through this tough time. Why don't you come to our house for dinner? I have no idea what type of food you prefer but I'll see what I can come up with." Zero gave a bright smile. "Thanks a lot, madam!!" Throughout the conversation, Taichi just stood there with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He didn't start moving towards Mrs. Kamiya's vehicle until Zero had to yank him from the spot where he was standing.  
  
"That reminds me...what happened to you? Why are you in those clothes? Did something happen or something?" Zero quickly made up an excuse. "Taichi had a little accident and someone offered him some spare clothes." Mrs. Kamiya simply shrugged. "After I wash those clothes, you have to return them to whoever lent them to you in the first place." "Yes...mother," said Taichi in a weak voice.   
  
************  
  
"Ha ha!! With all these Digimon here, it's like a buffet!! Double Impact!!" Beelzemon fired off his shotguns and killed more Digimon as they continued to manifest themselves in the real world. Sure, it wasn't a challenge but data was data. And can any sensible Digimon say no to free data?   
  
He hopped on Behemoth and flew down the streets, fueled only by adrenaline from the carnage and the mayhem that he had caused. 'What do we have here? An idiotic pedestrian...' In the middle of the street, a Digimon was carrying a pair of small children, one under each arm. Beelzemon leapt off of his motorcycle and performed his Darkness Claw attack as he flipped forward. Finally, he landed on his bike again and used the brakes so he could absorb the data.  
  
The two children were dropped off to the sides as the Digimon burst into data. Beelzemon quickly uploaded the data before letting out a small satisfied sigh. "Now this is living!!" He noticed the two children that the Digimon had dropped. Upon closer inspection, he recognized them as his former partners, Ai and Mako. They were both unconscious, probably due to what had recently happened to them.  
  
The darker side of him would have been thrilled to have such an opportunity present itself. 'Perfect!! Now you can blast them to kingdom come for being such brats to you when you first arrived!!' But a small part of him...to be more precise, the Impmon that had a fondness for them, even though they did act like brats for a while, started arguing. 'Hey, hey, hey!! They took care of you when you first came to this place!! Is this any way to repay them?'   
  
He stood there, uncertain about anything. 'There's an easy way out...just leave them there. I don't owe those two anything.' But he didn't move. Sure, they might have been brats for a while but when they first met, life had been...pleasant. And interesting, seeing how hard the twins had to work to keep him a secret from their parents.   
  
Inside the cold hearted demon lord Digimon, the simple Impmon remained. The Impmon who had entertained Ai and Mako with his 'magic' fireball act. And after the act, there was a warm feeling inside when the twins appluaded. "Wow!! That was so cool!! You're the coolest Digimon of all!!" "And you're so nice...a lot nicer than my brother!!"   
  
Beelzemon finally made a decision. 'Damn...I'm getting soft.' He picked up the two children and started walking towards his motorcycle. After strapping the two of them down to his small passenger seat at the back, he fired up the motor. 'Alright...all I'm doing is dropping them off to a place that's safe and then I'm getting the hell out of here.'   
  
************  
  
"Now this may hurt a bit so try to be still." Rika hissed in pain as Renamon applied pressure to the wound with the herb. "That's an understatement. So how do you know all this stuff about herbs?" The fox Digimon waited patiently for the medicine to take effect. "During my time in the digital world, I've fought on my own so I had to learn how to treat my own wounds and identify which herbs could help in the healing process. And now you know why I stockpiled these herbs for the last few weeks."  
  
"That's quite a story you guys have. It's got to be serious if these towers are worrying Azulongmon," stated Henry as he placed a bandage on a cut. The previous battle left him with a few minor injuries. TK crossed his arms. "He didn't tell us much about them except that it's a bad omen of things to come if towers are set up in your digital world and ours. We better find out what all this is about and fast."  
  
"Whoa, wait a second here...so we gotta head to the digital world in order to find out about that tower and stop it or something?!? Just how are we gonna get there anyway?" asked Kenta. Cody took a sip of his bottled water. "We'll have to use the opening that Diaboromon created in the first place...assuming that Renamon is right and that is a gateway to your digital world."  
  
Takato tried to remain focused on the discussion but he couldn't stop fidgeting. Then out of nowhere, Terriermon hops on to his head. "Hey, fearless leader!! What's up?" The boy glanced at the closed room where Renamon was tending to Rika's wounds. "Just a little worried about Rika, that's all. I never thought that we could all share the same pain. What would happen if you all died?"  
  
"Momentai!! That just means we gotta be more careful when we fight!! We won't let anything bad happen to you guys so don't sweat it! And don't worry about your girlfriend!! She's not going to get herself killed or anything! Besides, other than losing her virginity to you, she probably has to fulfill a few fantasies as well. With her personality, I would assume she would like to dominate-" The statement earned the vaccine rookie a swift hit on the head. "Zip it, rabbit."   
  
Takato gave a warm smile as Terriermon moved away. "How are you holding up, Rika?" There was some dried blood on her arms but other than that, she looked fine. "I'm well enough to find out what's going on. Care to fill me in?" While the boy quickly explained the situation, the others had already begun planning.  
  
"If the Digidestined are going to the digital world, then I'm tagging along!! Since it's Guardromon's home and all, I've got to help defend it!" Kazu stood up with a firm look on his face. Kenta also rose from his seat. "I've got to go along as well!! Besides, Henry, Takato, Rika and Suzie have more experience dealing with the Digimon so they should stay here and stop whatever bad things come out of those rifts!!"  
  
"You're right. The other tamers have more experience in dealing with Digimon and being a tamer in general. So we'll need them to come with us," said Yolei. Before the boys could argue, Henry spoke up. "Actually, Suzie should stay here. The digital world is extremely hazardous so I don't want her to be there. You two can look after her and help defend the city from dangerous beings coming from other quantum planes." "Henwy!! No fair!!"  
  
"Suzie, this isn't open for discussion. That reminds me...how are you guys going to get home after all this has resolved?" Davis was about to say something but he closed his mouth. Ken gave a sigh. "Um...we haven't completely figured that out yet. We were thinking we could get home like last time but the Omega Sword is back in our world where it's being used to help Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon try to recompile themselves into their basic forms."  
  
"There is a way that you can get home." All eyes turned to Lopmon who leapt out of Suzie's arms and on to the table. "I remember that the Digimon Sovereigns each have a personal gateway to cross over to other realms. We've seen the evidence when you explained that Azulongmon transported you here. So now we've got to go talk to Zhuqiaomon when all this has finished. I don't think you'll have much luck since he has a grudge against humans and tamed Digimon."  
  
"You seem to know quite a bit. Can you help us?" asked Kari. Lopmon gave a sigh. "I don't really know. Although I was one of his Devas, my credibility would go down the drain now that I have a tamer. Perhaps I can request a formal tribunal...that's it!! Since this situation involves others from outside his realm, the other Sovereigns have a say. So they can overrule him if necessary! I'll still need to present my case and in case things get out of hand, I'll probably need Suzie to help me digivolve."  
  
"Wait!! She gets to go and we don't?!? Where's the justice in that?!? We're a team and we've all got to stick together!!!" Before Kenta could continue ranting, Kari approached him. "We really need for you and Kazu to stay here and keep the peace while everyone's gone. Can you do that for us? I would really appreciate it."  
  
"I...oh...why not? Fine, I'll stay here...but you guys owe me!! But you're depriving yourself of a mega Digimon right here!!" Kenta held MarineAngemon in the palm of his hand. Kazu groaned. "I shouldn't be surprised...after all, Kenta did think she was cute on the show. He's hopeless." Another voice came out of nowhere. "Absolutely hopeless!!"   
  
Kazu glared at Guardromon. "Stop imitating me, you big lugnut!! So that settles it. Everyone but me and Kenta is heading to the digital world...it's going to be kind of boring around here." Takato came up from behind his friend. "Trust me, Kazu. Keeping the peace will be anything but boring."  
  
The group quickly exited the building and headed out to the area where Diaboromon had opened the gateway but there were several scientists and guards around the sparkling rift. "Alright. We'll run interference while you make a break for the portal. Ready, Guardromon?" "I'm ready to go!!" Kazu and Kenta took deep breaths before running out and yelling nonsense. And with their Digimon right beside them, the guards and scientists took notice.  
  
"Get them!! I want them alive!!" The guards gave chase and loaded up some tranquilizer guns. "Guardian Barrage!!!" Guardromon fired his missiles at a precise area where it would create a partial smokescreen. Kazu and Kenta quickly hopped on the champion Digimon. "Okay, Guardromon!! Make like a bird!!" The boys held on as Guardromon took off into the air.  
  
"Team Epsilon to base!! Two new children have been spotted and they have Digimon with them, sir!!" Before the guard could listen for Yamaki's instructions, he heard the surprised yelps of some of the other guards. When he turned around to look, he felt someone hit him hard in the stomach. It wasn't a lethal blow but it was enough to knock the wind out of him. He dropped his communicator. "I want them brought in immediately!! Is that clear, commander?!?" Renamon quickly crushed the communicator.  
  
Davis held out his D3. "Okay, now while everyone's distracted...Digi Port open!!" Nothing happened. Rika snorted. "You moron...this isn't like your world where you can just call up a portal!! Renamon, how do we get in?" The other Digimon had quickly disabled the guards and rounded up all the scientists into a more confined area of the site. Before she could give an answer, a mysterious fog rolled in. The next thing they knew, they were enveloped in it before all of reality exploded.  
  
************  
  
"Commander Shigeru, come in!! Dammit!!! Riley, have Team Gamma report to Team Epsilon's previous position and find out what the hell happened!!" Yamaki focused his attention to Janyu Wong. "So you've come to your senses? Good. Right now, we need all the help we can get to fight this battle." The other man just gave an icy glare. "If I help you to resolve this, then you've got to let all of the children go."  
  
'I suppose a minor compromise is acceptable. I can figure out how to deal with the children later.' "Very well, Mr. Wong. If you'll follow me, I'll show you the lab and introduce you to your co-workers. I'm sure you'll recognize them right away." Janyu wasn't sure what Yamaki meant until he entered the lab. Right in front of him were his old colleagues from the Monster Makers except for Shibumi.  
  
Yamaki looked around the laboratory. "It took us a while to figure out who worked on the Digimon project but eventually we were able to find the key files from your former sponsor's records. As for Shibumi, we still haven't found him. Still, your combined programming talent should suffice to create a countermeasure for these digital anomalies that keep popping up. I'll check back here in a few hours and by then, I want to see some possible solutions. Understood?" Janyu nodded grimly.   
  
With his expectations delivered, Yamaki turned around and left the laboratory. One of the men gave a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his red hair. "Who would have thought that our project would cause so much trouble?" Janyu took a seat near his new workstation. "It was only supposed to be a game, Dolphin. Now humanity's future depends on how this game ends."  
  
  
  
Sorry for the long wait. But reading six Discworld novels, all of them 250+ pages long, takes a lot of time. It's still good literature. Philosophy, science fiction and fantasy blended with humour. Just as a lot of cool things come from Japan (unique delicacies, video games, manga, anime), there are plenty of cool things from England like Discworld, Robot Wars, Red Dwarf and Harry Potter. Anyways, I've decided to write something separate for the Digimon World 3 characters from 'Hacker's Net' and no, they won't cross over into 'Ascension'. Not yet anyways. I've been doing some reading about the other Digimon World games and they don't make a lot of sense. At least I have a few more ideas about my little thing. I have no idea how long this other story is going to be or when I'll get it out. I've also found out something weird about the Digimon card game...they only use 30 card decks. I mean I can deal with 40 card decks like in certain tournament formats of Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! but 30 cards?!?!? That's insane!! And when I tried to follow the rules of game play...I kind of got lost. It's seriously wacky how the game play goes. Is this my last attempt at understanding the Digimon Trading Card Game?  
  
The smeg it is. 


	7. First Arc, Episode VII

Author's Notes: I've finally gotten my new computer and it's been a massive headache. I've had to register programs, activate stuff and do all sorts of wacky things. But at least now I can have an easier time updating and stuff. On with the story!!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it.   
  
Ascension - V 1.7  
  
The first thing that came to Ryo's mind when he woke up was the urge to vomit. Or at least relieve himself of whatever stuff was stuck inside his chest. He quickly got up and proceeded to cough up some water. 'Where am I? This kind of looks like the digital world where I met Ken.' A voice interrupted his thoughts. "You're finally awake? That's good." A sense of relief washed over the boy when he heard Monodramon's voice.  
  
"Can you explain what happened? Who saved us?" Monodramon remained silent with a single thought running through his mind. "Monodramon?" The rookie Digimon snapped out of his trance and looked at Ryo. "Sorry but it's just that I thought I saw something in that whirlpool. And it gave me the willies, so to speak."  
  
Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Willies? As in the heebie jeebies or something?" His partner nodded. "There was something in that whirlpool that was extremely disturbing. Something dark and sinister. I saw Devimon's body in there. The Devimon who was defeated back on File Island by the original Digidestined. I know that you're skeptical but I swear that was the same guy!! And by the way he was moving, there's something big coming. It's almost as big as Millenniumon's resurrection."  
  
"Uh, Monodramon? Devimon bit the dust when he challenged the original group to a battle. What exactly do you mean by the way he was moving? I thought he's dead!!" Monodramon moved towards the tree and shifted it. Ryo was startled to see that the island was moving. "He is dead but his digital pattern hasn't disintegrated yet. His body is reacting to the amount of dark energy being gathered. And when I saw the way it was moving…" He didn't need to finish the sentence as Ryo had a fairly good grasp of the situation.  
  
************  
  
'Thanks a lot, Gennai. If you're not hiding something from us, then you're always springing something at the last minute.' Tai just grumbled as the limousine kept moving towards his apartment. Only a few moments ago did he receive an important e-mail describing the whereabouts of his sister and her friends. They had gone off to the digital world in the tamers' realm to solve the mystery about those towers that have popped up in the other quadrants. If that wasn't bad enough, he had to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary in the digital world in this dimension. At least they could get to the digital world with Izzy constructing a new gateway, thanks to state of the art computers and very knowledgeable staff.  
  
'At least now I can come in and check on how the reintegration sequence is going.' Both Tai and Matt had submerged themselves in diplomatic duties in order to keep themselves busy and sane. Although they knew that the sacrifice was necessary to save the human and digital race of countless quantum planes, they still had trouble accepting what had happened. Tai gave a sigh as his thoughts drifted back to his old friend.   
  
"Tai! Zero!! Dinner's almost ready!!" Mrs. Kamiya quickly set up the table. Her husband had to work late tonight and Kari probably had to do something with the Digimon. She checked her tofu dish again. Zero looked at the set of food before them. "Wow!! That smells lovely, Mrs. Kamiya!! Taichi, you've gotta check this out!!"   
  
The boy emerged from the room, wearing his traditional blue t-shirt and khaki shorts. His goggles were on his head and his Digivice was on his left wrist. "That's odd…didn't you give your goggles to Davis? And how can you still fit in those clothes?" Taichi gave a nervous gulp. "Um…you see…"  
  
He was interrupted when some noises were coming from the front door. 'Whew!! Talk about good timing!!' But that relief quickly faded as he heard a voice extremely similar to his own shout out. "Mom, I'm home!! Kari's not going to be here for tofu night because…" Taichi Kamiya stopped as he saw a younger version of himself staring back at him with a Digimon that looked similar to Veemon beside him.   
  
The standstill was interrupted when they heard a crash right beside them. Mrs. Kamiya had fainted and dropped the pot that was holding the tofu. Zero gave a loud groan. "Aw, man!! There goes dinner…" He looked up again to talk to his tamer. "Hey…with this other person who looks a lot like you and stuff…does this mean we're the 200% combination?"  
  
************  
  
"Hey, what happened to my eyes?!? I can't see!!" Davis frantically waved around to find his friends but had no luck until he bumped into somebody. The boy quickly placed a firm grip on the other person's shoulders. "Kari, is that you?!?" He heard a snort come from the other person. "Let go of me or die a painful death."  
  
Davis quickly let go of Rika before muttering an apology. He heard Takato's voice come out of nowhere. "It may help if you put on your goggles. It's certainly helping me." When he placed his goggles on his eyes, he was able to see some of his friends in some sort of blue jelly with numbers floating all around. Henry had placed his green sunglasses on and was looking after Terriermon, Lopmon, Suzie and some of the other Digidestined children. To his dismay, Kari was already with Henry and TK. "Davis!! We've got to help Ken and Cody out! Takato already has Yolei with him!" The boy mumbled a few words of agreement before seeking out his friends. Once the group had assembled, Takato asked the obvious question. "How do we get to the digital world from here?"  
  
"All we need to do is find an opening and when we find that right angle, we'll find the opening," stated Cody. Renamon looked around the area. "Unfortunately, the right angle can be any angle. It all depends on your point of view." Before anyone else could argue, the group found themselves spinning out of control.   
  
Moments later, a loud splash was heard as they all fell into a crystal clear lake. Guilmon quickly came up to the surface and gave a loud cough. "I don't think I want to do that again." Armadillomon slowly made his way to the small grassy area. "Hey!! This kind of looks like our digital world!!"  
  
Rika took off her purple sunglasses after she got out of the water. "Not exactly. Look up at the sky and you'll see what I mean." Sure enough, the sky still looked the same the day they made a brief visit to this digital world. "At least, we're in the right place. Now where to? It's not like any clues are just going to walk in," grumbled Wormmon.  
  
"Everyone, quiet!!" The others were startled at Gatomon's sudden outburst. She slowly crept forward, like a predator stalking its prey. Then she leapt into the bushes and flushed out a small green Digimon with a small trumpet around its neck. "Please don't hurt me!!" it exclaimed. Henry looked at the Digimon with slight suspicion. 'What's a Gekomon doing here?'   
  
Kari knelt down by the small Digimon with a small smile. "We're not going to hurt you. I guess the idea of having humans in your world must be a little unsettling. You don't have to be afraid of us." The Gekomon still kept his distance. "B-but you look similar t-to that other person who slaughtered the rest of my kind."  
  
"What?!? Are you saying that another human has been here before?" asked Yolei. The other Digimon could only nod meekly. Davis gave a frown. "So someone else can get into the digital world other than us? Don't tell me we have to deal with another Digimon Emperor or something!! No offense, Ken."  
  
The other boy gave a dry laugh. "It could be another tamer that you guys haven't run into yet. You haven't been able to keep an eye everywhere so there could be other tamers from other countries and stuff who got trapped here somehow…and they probably have Rika's old attitude about Digimon being data." Rika narrowed her eyes as another possibility came into her head. "Or…it could be Ryo who found a way out of the Dark Ocean and has been tainted."  
  
Ken shot a glare at the girl. "You can't be serious!! I know Ryo and he wouldn't do something like this!! He was a good friend and I won't allow you to make wild accusations about him!!" An icy gaze, which she inherited as the Digimon Queen, was formed in her eyes. "The Dark Ocean can corrupt a person easily. Remember what happened to you when you visited that place? And Kari may have fallen into the same trap had TK not found a way to get in." Davis started grumbling. "Sure…keep rubbing it in why don't you?"   
  
"It's a disturbing thought but it's a possible one too. Maybe we should ask our friend here and let him tell us what he saw," stated Henry. They all turned their attention towards the Gekomon who still remained scared stiff. "I can't tell you anything!! If he finds out about me, I'm a goner!!"  
  
"If you can at least describe what he looks like or what type of Digimon was with him then maybe we can find him and stop him from hurting anymore Digimon," explained Cody. The other Digimon wasn't sure what to do. Should he place his life in the hands of those humans? He was looking over his choices when a small girl approached him. "You don't have to worwy about that meanie!! Henwy will stop him!!"  
  
"Talk about having a lot of confidence, huh?" Terriermon gave a tiny grin as Henry just sighed. The Gekomon finally came to a decision. "I saw only a few things since I was hiding. There was this huge demonic Digimon with him. That human has white hair and is very nasty. That's all I can tell you."   
  
As the group started walking away, Davis groaned. "Great…now we have to deal with this new human who deletes Digimon and the whole mysterious towers thing. What next?" "Hey, what about that Diaboromon who looked interested in us earlier before heading to the digital world? I don't think he was finished with us yet," murmured Hawkmon.   
  
Renamon's memory triggered at Hawkmon's words. "Now that you mention it…by the way he was acting towards us, he probably had something planned in mind but had to postpone it due to another more serious engagement. Perhaps after we deal with the tower issue and the renegade tamer, you can bring this up with your Sovereign." Lopmon nodded in agreement. Meanwhile Henry remained preoccupied with his own thoughts. 'Is it possible? No…Daemon wouldn't have use for a tamer! I must be losing it.'  
  
************  
  
"So how much longer is this process supposed to take? I'm getting restless…I want to go nuke stuff, you know?!?" Skullsatamon leaned against the wall. Ladydevimon gave a snort. "Typical. All you male Digimon are the same. You just want to destroy stuff and see explosions." "So does that include me?"   
  
She started stammering in the presence of her master. He gave a chuckle. "You are very fortunate I am in such a good mood. The data transfer from the spore to me was a success but I shall require some time before my body can get used to such energies. However, I do believe I can do something for all of you, seeing as how you were so loyal to me."  
  
"In what way, master?" asked Marinedevimon. Daemon formed three balls of energy before sending each one to hover in mid air in front of each of his minions. "By absorbing this energy, your strength shall be the equivalent of a mega Digimon. I suggest you integrate it now so your bodies can adjust. Then we can begin wreaking havoc upon the digital world!!"  
  
************  
  
"What?!? You mean they all left without me?!? That's so unfair!!! They get to have all the fun!!" Kenta nodded wearily as Calumon kept flying around. "Me and Kazu feel exactly the same way, little guy. I mean, we're not exactly the best babysitters around. Not only do we have to look after you but the city and the world as well!! I hope Kazu gets back here safely."  
  
After providing the diversion, the two tamers had decided to split up and meet at the hotel as soon as possible. With MarineAngemon's small size, it was harder for the soldiers to detect Kenta so they were able to get back without too much trouble. Now all they could do is wait for Kazu before planning their next move. 'There better not be any more Digimon popping up right now!!' thought Kenta.   
  
Suddenly, MarineAngemon popped up right beside him. "I think I hear someone trying to sneak in!!" Kenta followed his partner to a small room where someone was trying to force the window open. Calumon hovered right behind Kenta. "This is pretty scary!!" Kenta put a finger to his lips, signaling silence.   
  
"Hey, chumley!! Are you going to help or what? Guardromon isn't exactly small you know!!" Kenta gave a smile of relief as he opened the window for Guardromon and Kazu to get in. The other boy gave a sigh. "Man, it was insane out there. But I think we lost those bozos. As soon as me and Guardromon chill out and get ourselves together, we better go back out on patrol."  
  
"Hold it!! You're not serious, are you?!? How can you adopt to this so easily?!? When I got up today, I was just a regular kid. By lunch, I'm responsible for looking after my Digimon and the world!! We need a bit of time to soak this in," blurted Kenta. Kazu shrugged. "Whatever, man. If you want, you can look after Calumon while me and Guardromon keep an eye out for things on the outside."  
  
"Attention, all inhabitants of the structure!! This is the Japanese Armed Forces!! You are surrounded!! Come out peacefully with your hands up!!" Both tamers stiffened at that announcement. Kazu gave a groan. "I thought I lost them!! Someone must have been tailing us from a distance." They both moved to a window to check out their situation. There were armed men and vehicles outside as well as helicopters patrolling the air. "Damn it!!" cursed Kazu.  
  
"Sarge, I was wondering why we didn't go in there by force. We could have taken them before they could react." The sergeant gave a glare at the private. "Mr. Yamaki's orders were very specific. We are not to harm the children and Digimon. Just incapacitate them. They want to study them so that maybe we can do something with all these Digimon attacks!! All the entrances have been either destroyed or too small for us to get through and using demolitions to create an entrance is not an option!!"  
  
"This is it…the end of the line. We don't even have the right Modify cards for this type of situation!! And I was just beginning to enjoy being a Digimon tamer!! Why does everything bad happen to me?" grumbled Kazu. Guardromon came back from checking other areas of the hotel. "They've surrounded all the other exits." Calumon's ears folded back in. "This isn't good. Not good at all."  
  
************  
  
"So how do we know that we're going in the right direction? For all we know, we could be walking into some mirage where we see what we want to see except that we get devoured in the end by a mirage producing Digimon!!" exclaimed Terriermon. Henry kept looking at his Digivice. "The Digivice can scan for anomalous readings so I'm hoping that we can find something out of the ordinary out here."  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard considering that we're in the desert!! We can spot anything out of the ordinary for miles!!" said Davis. Yolei snorted. "Davis, you're cracking. It's not easy to spot anything out of the ordinary in the digital world…especially here where those pink vacuums can come out of nowhere and suck you up…"  
  
"Uh…you mean like how one's coming right behind us?" asked TK. Sure enough, one of the pink vacuums had descended and is preparing to scoop up data and send it to a random location. "Everyone, scatter!!!" yelled Takato. The group split up into different pairs to try and get away from the vacuum but Ken, Davis, Veemon and Wormmon weren't so lucky as they were sucked in.   
  
"Can't we ever get a break?!? Now it's more crucial that we resolve these other matters as soon as possible," stated Henry. Yolei looked at the other boy. "But what about Ken and Davis? We have to find them!!" "They've got Imperialdramon in case things get hairy. They'll be fine…I hope."  
  
************  
  
Somewhere else in the digital world, two boys and their Digimon came out of nowhere and crashed on to the ground. "Ow…" moaned Veemon. The group of four slowly got up and looked around. "Just where are we anyway?" Before Ken, Davis or Wormmon could answer Veemon's question, Neo Saiba answered the question for him. "Simple. Here is where you shall all die!!"   
  
  
Here's my little gift to everyone before we all head back to school tomorrow. Happy Labour Day!! Classes for me don't start for another week but I've got to register and enjoy frosh week and orientation. So maybe I can get one final update in before university assignments begin to pile up. This is Epsilon signing off!! 


	8. First Arc, Episode VIII

Author's Notes: University Frosh Week was insane…lots of food, fun and nights with little sleep. If I lived closer to Toronto then I can really party late. I guess leaving parties early is the price to pay when one has to commute from far away. Sorry for the late update!! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 1.8

"You!! You're the one who's been deleting all those Digimon!! What's your problem? Why do you have to go and slaughter innocent Digimon?" asked Davis. Neo's cold look remained on his face. "When I came here, I learned that deleting Digimon is necessary in order to gain power. And you know that I have to make up for lost progress when you destroyed ArcaDemon, you trash tamer!!"

Ken blinked in confusion. "Who is ArcaDemon? And what are you talking about my friend being a trash tamer?" The other boy's icy gaze turned to Ken. "By the way you associated with each other, I would estimate that you two have been friends for at least a week. I'm surprised that Taichi didn't brag about how he and his puppy dragon messed up everything."

This got a simultaneous 'huh?' from the group of four. Neo laughed. "You thought that you could try and sneak up on me by looking different. It might have worked with your new hair and clothing but you're too stupid to realize that I would have recognized those goggles as soon as I saw them. Although having your puppy dragon go back to his rookie form to try and throw me off was an interesting idea, my partners weren't fooled by it."  As soon as Neo said those words, Devimon and Ogremon stepped out. "I guess it's time to rumble. Veemon!!" "Wormmon, do your stuff!!"

"Veemon digivolved to…Exveemon!!"

"Wormmon digivolved to…Stingmon!!"

 "Pummel Whack!!" Stingmon had to move quickly to avoid getting hit by Ogremon's attack before delivering a counterattack. "Spiking Strike!!" Devimon tried to come up from behind Stingmon for a sneak attack but Exveemon sent him flying back with a Vee Laser attack. "Enough fooling around!! Ogremon!! Devimon!! Time to combine your powers!!" Neo held his two Digivices together. 

Davis took out his own Digivice. "I say we take this time to introduce that jerk to Paildramon!!" Moments later, two ultimate fused Digimon were locked in battle. "Desperado Blaster!!" But Skullsatamon was too fast for Paildramon to attack directly. "Nail Bone!!" Skullsatamon jabbed his staff into Paildramon's ribcage which forced him to move back. "Man!! This guy is practically a walking, talking Mexican jumping bean!! Let's see him deal with me when I upgrade!!" The ultimate Digimon tapped into the power of the Digicore. 

"Paildramon mega-digivolved to…Imperialdramon!!" 

However Neo didn't react. "Big deal. So your puppy dragon reached a new champion level and you've learned the technique of DNA digivolving. It still isn't going to save you from your fate. Finish the job, Skullsatamon!!" The ultimate Digimon prepared to use his attack. 'I won't be able to fight him effectively in this form…' "Imperialdramon mode-changed to…Fighter Mode!!"

This new transformation took Neo and Skullsatamon by surprise. Taking advantage of their hesitation, Imperialdramon delivered a powerful blow, sending the ultimate Digimon back to his tamer. The boy gave a dark grin. "Good…you've improved yourself. Now maybe we can have some real fun. Skullsatamon?" As soon as he got up, a dark aura surrounded him. "Skullsatamon digivolved to…" His staff disappeared as he grew taller. Wings sprung out from his back and new clothing and accessories materialized. A dark hood covered his head and a pair of horns appeared on top. "…Daemon!!!" 

Neo gave a dark laugh. "Now you see what deleting other Digimon and uploading their data will do for your own Digimon? Instead of digivolving into Ghoulmon, Skullsatamon reached his most powerful form!!" Ken felt small drops of sweat fall from his face. "Looks like our other engagements will have to wait…"

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"So any bright ideas on how we can get out of this jam because I'm all ears!!" Nobody was able to respond to Kazu's comment. Kenta straightened out his glasses. "If we're going to try and get out of here, we need an exit. Maybe we can make one or something. Hey!! MarineAngemon can use his bubbles and let us float away!!"

Kazu looked at his friend as if he were insane. "No offence but riding in bubbles? What if they pop? Bubbles are very fragile, you know. A wrong move…even the slightest and pop!! We all fall down." Guardromon began to speak. "There is also the question of how the military would react. And the fact is that they can easily capture us if we're floating slowly in bubbles."

Before they could continue arguing, they heard a loud drilling sound from underneath. Calumon circled around the noise. "There's something down there!!" Guardromon and MarineAngemon stood on guard while Kazu and Kenta prepared themselves. Finally a small hole appeared in the middle of the floor. 

Everyone in the room tried to find a place to hide as to use the element of surprise on their enemy. Then the last person they expected to see popped her head into the room. The jaws of both Kazu and Kenta were dropped in surprise. "Jeri?!?!" (AN: Yes, I'm going to spell her name correctly!! If I get bored and have extra time, I'll correct it in BTOS) She coughed up some dust. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again…now anybody can be a Digimon tamer these days," stated Guardromon. Kazu glared at his partner. "I said that, you big lugnut!! And just because she was able to drill a hole for us to escape doesn't mean she has a Digimon partner." Just as Kazu said that, he heard a rough voice come from the hole. 

"Are we going to get out of here anytime soon?" An annoyed look made its way to Jeri's face. "I'm sorry. Leomon doesn't exactly have the best manners and everything, with him living in an uncivilized world and all." She used her right hand with her sock puppet on it to address the lion Digimon. "That was rude!! You should be more nice!!"

The group quickly got into the hole that was made. "You guys keep going down there and I'll seal the hole!!" Jeri then took out a yellow Digivice and a card while Leomon pulled a rug over the hole to try and camouflage it. "Digi Modify!! Frigimon's Subzero Ice Punch Activate!!" Within a moment, the hole had been sealed by a layer of ice. Kazu took this moment to ask a question. "So, how the heck did you wind up as her Digimon?"

Leomon just grumbled something under his breath. The boy leaned in closer to hear. "I didn't catch that. Can you repeat what you said?" The beast king gave a sigh. "I don't really feel like answering any questions now. I've got too much to sort out. It's not everyday that you wind up in another world!"

"Sorry. Geez, aren't you guys supposed to have a code of behaviour and conduct or something?" Leomon glared at Kazu. "I've just been transported out of my world and into another one. I save that girl's life and all of a sudden she gets this device and gets the strange idea that we're partners and now I have to get adjusted to the fact that I have a tamer even though I didn't really want one in the first place so excuse me if I'm not all smiles and sunshine!!"

When they emerged on the other side, there was another girl waiting for them with a Digimon beside her. "Is everyone accounted for?" Jeri gave her usual perky smile. "Yeah. We should go…" She noticed confused looks on both Kazu and Kenta. She gave a sheepish laugh. "How silly of me to forget to introduce you guys!! Alice, these are my acquaintances, Kazu and Kenta. And that little cutie is Calumon!! Guys, this is Alice and her partner, Dobermon."

"She's a tamer too?!? No wonder you knew how to use that Modify card. She must have given you a crash course in becoming a Digimon tamer. Did you run into Takato, Henry and Rika earlier or something?" asked Kenta. Alice gave a calm smile. "Actually, I have a relative who was on the original team that created the first Digimon."

"There were files on her grandfather's computer that she accessed. And she was able to find detailed schematics on the D-Arks. From there, she was able to use the card to store data in those arks," explained Dobermon. Alice pulled out a Digivice which had the same design as everyone else's except hers was black. Kazu looked at his own D-Ark. "Who came up with this whole D-Ark thing? Not that I'm complaining."

Alice placed the Digivice back into her black dress. "The device was originally created by a former colleague of my grandfather's. I think his name was Mr. Mizuno or something. He must have anticipated that Digimon would be the wave of the future and prepared accordingly. We better continue this conversation elsewhere. There are still a lot of soldiers around the place and they could come here anytime."

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"So…um…you're Taichi Kamiya, I presume. Nice to meet you!!" Taichi Yagami mentally groaned at how Zero was greeting his older counterpart. The older boy snapped out of the shock and tried to get some answers. "So who are you and where did you come from anyway?" He regretted asking the question after what happened next. 

"Since there's only one of me, Taichi Yagami…at least I thought there was only one of me…you get the one!!!" Zero made his speech next. "And since my name is Zeromaru, you get two zeros!! What does that make?" The human and Digimon struck a pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!!!"

'Was I ever this insane as a kid?' "Right…so where do you guys come from anyway?" The tamer and his Digimon got out of the pose. "Well…we were informed that we had to come here and help you guys solve this tower mystery that seems to be going on in other dimensions. This is Lord MagnaAngemon's idea anyway as well as that big turtle guy who had the strangest accent," stated Taichi.

"So you come from another dimension and you were sent here to help us…Gennai recently informed me that my sister and the new Digidestined went to the tamers world to solve this type of mystery too. I better go and see him…and you two are coming with me!!" "Oh dear God!!!" Both boys turned around to see a very shocked Sora Takenouchi. 

'Yikes!! What is she doing here?!?!? Oh, right…she said she wanted to talk to me about something about the Digimon…' Tai stiffened when he started hearing his younger counterpart start to talk. "Hey, who's that? Your girlfriend or something? I have to admit that she is kind of cute and…hey!! Since you are me…um…the future me or something…I'll get to have someone as good looking as her as my girlfriend in the future!!"  

Tai laughed nervously. "Oh…hi, Sora!! I know you wanted to talk to me about stuff but I've got a last minute engagement that just came up!!" Taichi raised an eyebrow. "What engagement? You should spend time with her if you want to keep her as your girlfriend and all." At the moment, Tai Kamiya was silently begging to the gods to make Taichi shut up. 'He's like a kid brother!!!' The trio raced out with all of them saying something quick to the bewildered girl. "Sora, we would love to stay and chat but we've got to get going. Oh, can you look after my mother for me? Thanks!!" "Nice to meet you, miss!!" "I hope I get to meet someone like you when I get back to my world!!"

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'When someone originally came up with the idea of killing two birds with one stone, they probably didn't mention the price that would have to be paid!!' Henry cried out in pain as Rapidmon was hit by Diaboromon's attack before changing back to his rookie form. The group had elected to find Davis and Ken later and focus on their mission. Eventually, they found what they were looking for. They witnessed Diaboromon plant something into the ground and watched as data was gathered from the core of the digital world itself. Then when all the data had been gathered, the tower slowly began to form. 

They had considered storming in and attacking the tower directly. After all, eight Digimon attacking at once would have a good chance of destroying the tower. However, thanks to Terriermon sneezing at the wrong moment, Diaboromon had spotted the group and fired his Catastrophe Cannon. They had barely enough time to digivolve when the mega Digimon came charging at them. 

Digmon noticed something during the battle. "So far, he's focused mostly on the tamers!! He hasn't been too concerned with us!! But the tower's a lot tougher than those control spires!! My drills hurt!!" Pegasusmon and Nefertimon flew overhead. "We'll try and stall him. Maybe the tamers can have better luck attacking the tower directly!!" Both Digimon concentrated and swooped in for their attack. "Golden Noose!!" 

The noose wrapped around Diaboromon, who had just forced Antylamon to transform back to her rookie form of Lopmon. For a moment, he was surprised but then that surprise turned into annoyance. He easily broke free of the chain. "Catastrophe Cannon!!" The blast knocked both flying Digimon out of the sky.  

"All of our efforts to destroy the tower have failed!! We need to regroup and think of a better plan!!" exclaimed Cody. Rika ground her teeth together as Taomon was slammed into the ground. "Unfortunately, he's not going to give us that opportunity! Looks like it's up to us!! Digi Modify!! Cherrymon's Illusion Mist Activate!"

Taomon slowly got up before releasing the mist from the sleeves of her arms. Takato gave a grin. "That should slow Diaboromon down while we get out of here!!" Before Wargrowlmon could give a reply, Diaboromon fired his attack straight through the mist and hit the viral ultimate Digimon. Takato collapsed on the ground with Guilmon beside him, both trying to fight the pain. 

'But how…?' Taomon never got the opportunity to finish her thought as Diaboromon picked her up. "I've been waiting for this for a long time…especially after you finished me off previously. If it wasn't for my master, I would still be floating around as useless data from a control spire…" 

The ultimate Digimon's eyes widened. Now she remembered…it was the Infermon she had deleted when she digivolved to ultimate for the first time. But who would have the power to revive him and give him such power? "Who s-sent you? What are t-the purpose of those t-towers?" 

"Wouldn't you like to know…" He tossed the Digimon in Rika's direction. She landed on the ground with a huge thud before changing back to Renamon. The girl didn't have much strength to move. And neither did the other tamers. Only the Digidestined and their armoured Digimon were still active but Diaboromon would eventually see to that. Slowly, Rika slipped into unconsciousness.

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It was a full moon that night. The group surrounded the bed, waiting for some sign that she was okay. Other than the flickering candles and the breathing of the woman in bed, there was complete silence. Then an elderly gentleman got up with a grave look on his face. "She is ready to pass on…" "How can you say that, monk?!? She is still breathing!!" 

The monk calmly looked at the young man who had a frustrated look on his face. "For the moment, yes. But her soul is preparing to depart." The other man looked at the woman on the bed. "She's so young…how can she be ready to leave this world now?" A small smile came to the monk's lips. "You know as well as I do that Princess Sakuya's mystical powers are very strong and that she has connections beyond the physical realm. She feels that she has done all that she could here and now she must move on and find another who seeks help. We must accept that." 

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When Rika woke up, she found herself in a blue void…similar to when she bio-merged with her Digimon. She looked at herself and she was still wearing her usual outfit. "Renamon? Takato? What's happened to me? What am I doing here?" She froze when she heard the footsteps of someone else approaching. "So you are the one…" 

Rika turned around and stared in shock at the person before her. It was herself…except that she was wearing more traditional robes, almost similar to when she bio-merged but not quite. The other girl smiled. "I'm sorry if I startled you. I only wanted to let you see a familiar face and you do resemble me as a child…somewhat." Rika took a deep breath, trying to make sense out of everything. "Who are you? You can't be me…right? What are you doing here?"

"Your myths referred me to as Princess Konohana no Sakuya. As for what I'm doing here…you called out for help. Maybe not in the physical sense but your essence did. And now I will bind my lifeforce to your essence." Rika held up one hand to stop the other girl from speaking. "What do you mean? What's going to happen to me?"

"If I bind my lifeforce to your essence, you can tap directly into my magical strength. That should be enough to stop that vile demon rampaging out there." Rika hesitated for a moment before looking at Princess Sakuya again. "For what it's worth…thank you." The other girl just smiled gently.

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"I might as well get this over with…seeing how that's all you humans can do." Diaboromon looked at the fallen Digidestined with their Digimon before turning his gaze to the tamers who are still trying to get back on their feet…except for the girl. 'She must have already given up. Well…I've always wanted to kill her and her partner…' 

She opened her eyes, with a new strength flowing through her. Renamon felt it as well as she got up. This puzzled Diaboromon slightly before he shrugged and fired his attack. "Catastrophe Cannon!!" Rika took out her D-Ark which had the Tao symbol on the screen. 'Looks like it's now or never. Let's see what you got…' "Biomerge Activate!!" 

BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION….

"Renamon bio-merged to…" Both fox and human melded together to create Sakuyamon's feminine figure except instead of her typical armour, she had white robes covering her upper body. Two belts held a pair of long red pants to her lower body. There were small gaps on the sides of the pants so one could get a fairly good view of her legs and purple boots. Her usual hairstyle and fox headgear appeared but there was no black bodysuit or gloves. And instead of her staff, she held something that strangely resembled a mop. "…Sakuyamon!!" 

Terriermon just gasped at the new version of Sakuyamon before them. "Whoa…since she's your girlfriend, I officially designate you as the MacDaddy of the Digimon tamers!!" Takato didn't even blink at Terriermon's statement. Not even Henry felt like scolding him. 

As soon as they had merged, Sakuyamon leapt out of the way of Diaboromon's attack. 'Just what type of fashion sense did that princess have anyway?!?' Rika turned her thoughts to defeating her opponent. Diaboromon was slightly surprised by this new transformation but maintained his focus. Sakuyamon's deadly gaze focused on the other mega Digimon. "Let's dance."

HALLELUJAH!!!! I finally get the time to type this up!! If you're not sure about where I got the idea for the traditional outfit, there's a website with a ton of card images. It's http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Toys/1116/index.html and when you enter the album and go to the hotlink with Gallantmon riding Grani, the Sakuyamon card I used as a reference should be inside. Also, check out the hotlink with Ancientgreymon. There's a cool new image of ChaosDukemon up there. Until next time


	9. First Arc, Episode IX

Author's Notes: It's going to be hectic for me for a while. I have to study like mad but I'm sure all of you…er…most of you can relate to that. If you guys can help me reach 100 reviews by the time I get chapter 10 out, that would be super. Okay, on with the show!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 1.9 

Takato looked at what just happened and tried to make sense of it. "The last time Rika bio-merged, that didn't happen." Terriermon gave a grin. "What's the difference? She still became Sakuyamon but instead of becoming a normal, hot looking female Digimon with battle armour, she became someone who looks drop dead gorgeous in that outfit!!"

Henry took out his D-Ark and started making scans. "Let's see here. Other than a change in appearance, she's lost about 20% of her normal combat capabilities but she's also gained a few tricks. But I can't tell what they are…not yet anyway." The other boy remained silent as he watched the battle unfold.

'Come on, work already!! Why couldn't she have left some instructions on using this new power?!? And what is with this…thing anyway?!?' Sakuyamon kept moving to confuse Diaboromon further. It was fortunate that the Goliath Queen chess piece had become a part of her mega form so she still had an edge in battle. Rika was still fuming over this new form's lack of battle gear when Renamon's voice began to speak. "I do believe I have found an actual purpose for that…accessory. You must use it to create different patterns for different attacks."

"When this is over, remind me to ask you how you knew about that." Sakuyamon stopped moving and began to move her body in some sort of strange dance. Diaboromon decided not to find out what she was doing and fired. "Catastrophe Cannon!!" "Amethyst Wind!!" The pattern she drew in mid air glowed pink for a moment before cherry blossoms came out of the pattern, blocking Diaboromon's attack. Then they all went towards the other mega Digimon and started to seal him inside a sphere. He tried to hit them but his blows had no effect.

"Alright!! That'll show that nasty devil a thing or two!!" exclaimed Yolei. Sakuyamon gave a small smirk of triumph as she prepared to deliver a final blow. But she failed to notice Diaboromon's grin. "If you believe that this is going to stop me, then you're sadly mistaken." His eyes rolled back as he increased his power.

Henry's eyes widened when he saw the scans on his D-Ark. "He's activated some sort of implant to make him stronger!! His power and speed…they're now twice as big as they were before!! I don't think that cherry blossom prison is going to hold him for much longer!!" Takato gave a look of alarm before yelling. "Rika, watch out!!!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Diaboromon burst free of his prison. 

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Imperialdramon had his hands full trying to dodge Daemon's attacks. "Evil Inferno!!" The other mega Digimon gave a small gasp as the attack burned the tip of his tail. "Hey, that hurt, you prick!!! Positron Laser!!" Imperialdramon fired his attack but Daemon summoned a shield to block it.

"Man, he's good. How the heck are we going to beat him?" asked Davis. Ken didn't answer the other boy as he was focused on something else. Davis looked at his friend strangely. "Yo, Ken. You awake?" Ken didn't answer. "Daemon has brute strength and power and Imperialdramon has a balance of power and speed…they're evenly matched to a degree."

Neo began to shout. "Enough fooling around!! Destroy those two, now!!" His partner quickly descended from the sky to the ground in front of his tamer and the two other boys. Imperialdramon quickly landed to shield his two partners. "You're not going to hurt them!! Positron Laser!!" 

Daemon simply summoned another shield to block the attack. "Your weak powers cannot penetrate my shield!" The other mega Digimon was about to power down his attack and try to retreat with Ken and Davis when he noticed something approaching from behind Daemon and Neo. Instead, he focused more energy on his attack. "Eventually, you will run out of power…and out of time. This is a battle you cannot win."

"Maybe but this is one you can't win as well. At least not with that coming up from behind you!" Neo turned around in alarm to see a pink vacuum sucking up everything in its path. Before he could warn his partner, both tamer and Digimon were already hauled into the vacuum. 

The trio gave a sigh of relief. "Talk about a close call. We better get back to the others," said Ken. Davis pulled out his D3 from his pocket. "I can't detect the other Digivices. I wonder how far we are from the rest of the gang." Imperialdramon transformed back into his first form on four legs and transported Ken and Davis into his dome. "Don't worry about it. We'll catch up to them in no time." 

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"With all due respect, I don't think that it's a very good idea." The other man's face didn't change as Yamaki spoke. "Neither do I but you're the best person we have who can help calm the public's fears concerning the digital menace. There are a lot of frightened people who want reassurance and you're the person to give them that hope." 

"I'm not exactly a religious figure, you know." Yamaki saw a tiny smile form on the other man's face through the monitor. "If you're able to solve this problem, you'll probably be just as famous as the Pope. One more thing…"

A beeping came from the console, signalling that another call was waiting. Yamaki gave a growl as he heard Megan's message. "Sir, she called again. And she doesn't seem to be buying the reply." The man pressed a button on the console to put his assistant on hold. "Just for the record, you shouldn't have issued that public statement about Hypnos and how we may be able to do something about the Digimon."

"Noted. As I was saying before, there was one more thing of interest. You kept saying about how essential it is to get this Shibumi fellow on your team. It took us a while but we found out everything about him. Just this morning, one of our search teams brought him in…or at least his body. We believed that he was caught in the crossfire of one of the Digimon attacks about a few hours ago. The doctors are working on helping his body heal but his mind is another matter. He's in a coma." The other man paused to let the news sink in. "Keep me posted." The screen then went blank. Yamaki sat down in his chair before reactivating the console. "Megan, I want you to keep reassuring anyone who calls. We're working on the situation with expert computer programmers and we can't be constantly disturbed like this. I'm counting on you." Yamaki then left his office and headed towards the laboratory. 

Megan sighed and looked at Riley with pleading eyes. "Oh no…you're not getting me to talk to Mrs. Matsuki." The other woman sighed. "But you always buy a few pastries from her bakery. It'll be easier for you!!" "That was because I was a customer simply making a purchase. Now I have to be a telephone operator, constantly reassuring people that we're working on this on top of my normal job!!" Riley pressed a button and proceeded to answer another call. 

"Alright. What have we got?" asked Yamaki as he entered the laboratory. A bald African man with a beard and sunglasses looked at him. "Not much considering the time limits and the feasibility of these ideas. But Daisy here came up with something interesting." Yamaki turned his attention to the blonde woman.

"I was thinking that we can create a firewall to block out the Digimon from entering our world. We could base the firewall on the same principles as anti-virus software with detection and elimination protocols. With the amount of resources that we have and the data that you've collected on how they entered our world, we can get this up in a few days. But this is only a temporary solution. There are too many unpredictable variables to be certain of anything." 

Yamaki nodded. "At least we've got something to go on. Get your teams to work on this right away. I would also like you to do one more thing for me. I've designed a program to eliminate Digimon on a massive scale and I want you to inspect it and then upgrade so that it can achieve maximum efficiency." "What type of program is this?" asked Dolphin. Yamaki placed the folder marked 'Juggernaut' in the centre of the table.

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"This isn't right!! She's fighting alone out there!! We've got to do something!!" exclaimed Cody. TK cradled his injured partner in his arms. "With Diaboromon projecting that field to limit our Digimon's digivolution, there's nothing we can do for now but give Sakuyamon our spiritual support. And maybe that could be enough." 

Takato winced as Sakuyamon was knocked down to the ground by Diaboromon. "That's it!! I've had enough of sitting on the sidelines!! It's time we did something!!" Henry looked at his friend. "But what exactly can we do? I have no idea how Rika was able to tap into her essence and bio-merge with Renamon. It may have been a fluke."

"Fluke or not, we've gotta try!! Guilmon!!" The virus Digimon was ready as he'll ever be. Moments later, both tamer and Digimon started heading into the battle. 'If there's one thing that I really need right now, it's for me and Guilmon to become Gallantmon!!' His D-Ark started beeping as soon as he finished that thought. "Alright…Biomerge Activate!!"

BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION…. 

A light erupted from Takato's D-Ark, enveloping both human and Digimon. Moments later, a holy knight emerged on the other side with his lance aimed directly at Diaboromon. "Royal Sabre!!" Diaboromon was caught off guard but quickly recovered in time to see Gallantmon charging at him, with his lance raised high. "Fool…" Diaboromon caught the lance as soon as it came down and used Gallantmon's momentum to flip the holy knight several feet away. The mega Digimon gave a smirk before turning to Sakuyamon but she wasn't there. She had already gotten up and moved a safe distance away.

Gallantmon gave a groan as he landed flat on his back on the ground. He tried to shake off the dizziness when Sakuyamon came up from behind. "Are you alright?" Her voice was neutral but there was a hint of worry. The holy knight got up. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." Sakuyamon gave a small smile. "Okay. Let's trash this creep!!"

"If Takato did it and Rika did it…what's that saying? When in Rome…um…do what the Romans do? I don't think they can beat Diaboromon by themselves so we better go in and help!!" Terriermon's tamer gave a small sigh. "Just promise me you'll keep your big mouth shut unless I talk to you!" "Okay, okay!! Momentai already!!" 

Henry looked around and saw several cracks in the ground, thanks to Digmon's earlier efforts to attack the tower and Diaboromon. "Maybe we can try and plan a sneak attack. If Gallantmon and Sakuyamon can keep Diaboromon in that one section then we should be able to take him by surprise!!" The boy quickly took a look down below.

'We can hold him off but we don't have enough power to finish him!! I just wish that Grani could come and help like before!!' Gallantmon's thoughts were interrupted as he felt something slam him to the ground. Diaboromon grinned savagely. "You let your guard down. Very sloppy…and now you will pay for that mistake."

The holy knight tried to focus on using his Goliath Knight piece to teleport himself out of Diaboromon's grip but the other mega Digimon had already taken possession of it. "This should be useful in the future. Now…let's get this over with." He quickly glanced to the right and blasted a small spot with his attack. Moments later, Sakuyamon came flying out of control. "You should have spent more time developing alternative movement patterns. But then again, you've never faced someone such as myself before."

Before he could turn back to Gallantmon, something slammed into him hard. He was sure it wasn't the holy knight as he has him in his sights the entire time. He used the Goliath Knight to teleport out of the way and got a good look at the mysterious red glider that appeared. "Grani, you have impeccable timing!!" Gallantmon hopped on the glider. "Just what happened to you anyway?"

"The temporal incursion caused by Lunarmillenniumon's death transported me to an alternate quantum plane. I was badly damaged however I was able to repair myself thanks to your…or I should say an alternate Gallantmon's help. During my regeneration, I found a few new programs that had been created in my database as a result of the shift in quantum planes. These programs have allowed me to track you here and transport to this specific plane and this specific world."  

Before Diaboromon could try and do anything else, he noticed the ground beneath him shake violently. The next thing he knew, a giant hand coming from a giant green Digimon had grabbed him. "Surprise!!" exclaimed Megagargomon. Diaboromon smirked as he teleported out of his enemy's grasp. Terriermon's voice had a hint of shock in it. "Hey!! He wasn't supposed to do that!!" Henry fired the rockets on their back to get themselves out of the ground. 

Inside her glowing sphere, Rika gave a tiny smile. "Now that all three of us are bio-merged, we may have a chance of beating him. I think the Triad Cyclone should be able to pull off the trick!" "I'm not sure if that attack has enough power to seriously injure him. Not only do we have to worry about power but we also have to find some way to make him hold still before he teleports again," stated Renamon.

"Let's blast this guy!! Dragon Driver!!" Before Gallantmon could execute the attack, Diaboromon appeared to his right and tackled him off of Grani. Then he quickly spun around and fired his attack. "Catastrophe Cannon!!" The glider took some damage and started to spiral down towards the other Digidestined. "Oh boy…incoming!!!" yelled Yolei. Grani was aware that if something was not done to alter the trajectory, the Digidestined children could be injured. The glider quickly activated the only program that could save them…and burst into data.

The holy knight tried to regain some control but Diaboromon came out of nowhere and wrapped him in a bear hug before diving towards the ground to slam his opponent into. Gallantmon struggled but the other Digimon's grip was too strong. "Looks like you're going to end up like that glider…deleted!!"

Gallantmon's body paralysed when he heard the fate of his friend. He heard the others shouting his name, trying to snap him out of his trance. At the speed Diaboromon was moving, not even Megagargomon or Sakuyamon could reach him in time. Unknown to everyone, on the atomic level, Grani's data was grafting itself onto Gallantmon's. A new surge of power flowed through his veins. "Gallantmon mode-changed to…"

His red cape disappeared as it became replaced with white angelic wings. The weapons became replaced with a sword and a staff. The armour changed colour from white to red with yellow surrounding certain sections to give a certain style similar to the mightiest of holy knights such as Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. "…Crimson Mode!!!"

Before Diaboromon could react, the newly transformed holy knight burst free from his grip. The other mega Digimon quickly teleported away to safety before Gallantmon could attack. "You have killed a noble being, one with more heart than you or your master. And now, I, the Crimson Knight, shall vanquish you!!"

Me: Man, I'm so sorry it took so long but my time is really becoming limited. Maybe I should drop a few activities to write more. I bet you would all like that very much…where are you going?

Rika: I've got to go and narrate Frontier. The studio wanted someone from the Tamers season to fill the role and they picked me.

Me: They're already airing Frontier?!?!? 

Rika: It's been on for almost a month now!! 

Me: I see…well, it'll be a while before it gets aired in Canada on YTV. From what I've been able to gather, the show airs on WSBK on Mondays at 6:30 in the morning so American fans are going to have to drag themselves out of bed just to watch. 

Rika: Hybrids…those kids are going to get eaten alive out there.

Me: At least they've got stronger powers at the beginning unlike certain Digimon tamers and Digidestined I know. Anyways, I've got stuff to do so see you all next time!


	10. First Arc, Episode X

Author's Notes: I'm wondering if I can find original Japanese Digimon music on the net. Recently, I've been enjoying several songs on Real Player and MIDI and I'm hoping that there's some good Digimon music out there. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 1.0

"Now his house should be here if I recall correctly…" Taichi Yagami looked at his older counterpart in disbelief. "You mean he lives underwater? What type of guy is this Gennai anyway?" The older boy didn't respond as he had noticed a tiny message sign. "So he's at Primary Village, huh? Let's go."

Zero and Taichi blinked in confusion before they started walking. "Primary Village? What is that place?" Tai kept his gaze forward on the road ahead. "Primary Village is where Digimon usually go to get reborn into digieggs after they get deleted by who knows what. You see, when they die, they dissipate into data. That data naturally goes back to Primary Village to be reintegrated as a physical being again."

The champion level Digimon gave a groan. "I don't really get it. And just how do you keep bad Digimon from being reborn?" "Gennai says that higher powers prevent any dark Digimon from being reintegrated into the digital world. I'm not totally sure about that. Maybe we can contact these higher powers and find out what the heck is going on!"

When the trio arrived at the village, Gennai and Elecmon were busy at work, trying to gather the data from the Omega Sword and reintegrate it into two digieggs. He noticed Tai out of the corner of his eye. "If you're here to see if we made any progress, then I'm afraid you're wasting your time." But the response he got was rather unexpected. "Oh, man!! Check out this killer sword!!" 

Both Zero and Taichi were examining the sword carefully. "The craftsmanship is just unbelievable!! By the design, I would say that it is just more than a cool looking weapon. I'm going to sketch this into my notebook. This may come in handy in a future battle." As the small boy began drawing, Tai forced Gennai to turn his attention to him. "Can you tell me what the higher powers know about recent events and more importantly…tell me about him!!"

"Azulongmon told me was that the Digidestined had to go solve this mystery in the tamers world with the events happening there. He also explained that this already happened in your counterpart's world and that nothing could be done there. So they've been sent here not only to prevent the tower's construction in this realm but to gather information about it that would eventually lead to a way of safely dismantling the tower in the other world." Tai raised an eyebrow as he saw Zero and Taichi drooling over the sword. "They're gathering information?"

"Gee, if you're gonna handle a weapon like that, you would probably have to digivolve to Imperialdramon Fighter Mode!!" Zero scoffed. "Yeah, right!! I can probably handle it right now!! I got the skills and the warrior stuff right here!! I don't need to digivolve just to handle something like that!!" 

Elecmon started to panic. "Don't be crazy!! In fact, don't even think of touching that sword!! It's the only chance that Agumon and Gabumon have of coming back!!" Tai walked over to the duo who were by the sword. "That sword formed as a result of Omnimon's arrival. When they died in the fight, their data was transferred to the sword. Then Imperialdramon picked it up and he transformed into Paladin Mode. You see, Omnimon is the DNA digivolved version of Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon, who are the mega forms of Agumon and Gabumon respectively. And I didn't really see the Paladin Mode coming but apparently that's who you get when you combine the powers of both Omnimon and Imperialdramon."

"Paladin Mode? Sounds intense and cool!! Man, I've got to see how I would look!!" Zero started to daydream as Taichi just grinned. "Well, with Zero able to digivolve to Imperialdramon and the Omega Sword, you now have Imperialdramon Paladin Mode at your disposal. With my Digivice, I can scan stuff in here and Zero would get the result!! Even though I have a rough sketch, I should get as many details in before…" 

The group gave a simultaneous gasp when they saw the Omega Sword vanish without a trace. Gennai checked his readings. "That was all the data we could get out and so that means the Omega Sword has finished its business here and went back to…wherever it came from." Tai quickly took a look at the drawing that his younger counterpart had created. "Judging from that drawing, I don't think I'm ready to count on Imperialdramon Paladin Mode coming to the rescue just yet."

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Suzie watched in amazement as the battle kept raging on in front of her. However, her partner had her mind on something else. Lopmon decided to try and talk to her tamer about her idea. Kari quickly checked on the duo who were talking…actually, Suzie was having trouble what Lopmon was saying but she eventually understood in a way. 

Megagargomon started running scans on the new holy knight. "Gallantmon Crimson Mode…his power rivals that of Imperialdramon Paladin Mode himself and his aerial speed and maneuverability increases by a factor of ten!! Specialty attacks are Invincible Sword and Final Justice…" Terriermon took this opportunity to add something to Henry's analysis. "So now he's one hot tamale that all the lady Digimon are going to drool over?!? That is so not fair!!"

Gallantmon continued to try and attack Diaboromon but he kept teleporting out of the way. "While Gallantmon distracts Diaboromon, I'll try and destroy that tower. You better guard the Digidestined in case Diaboromon tries a sneaky tactic." Sakuyamon nodded silently before moving away.

The vaccine mega Digimon prepared to attack the gigantic structure. Terriermon started to worry. "Wait a second…Diaboromon is the one who planted this thing. Won't he try to stop us if he sees us trying to nuke this thing?" Henry prepared the missiles. "If he does, then Gallantmon would be able to take him out. He's four times as fast as Sakuyamon, if not faster. If Diaboromon doesn't even care, then there may be more to this tower than what Azulongmon had suspected." Megagargomon set his sights on the tower. "Gargo Missile!!"

As the two missiles flew towards the structure, a forcefield popped out of nowhere and deflected the missiles into another direction. Megagargomon gave a frown. "We can deal with this later. Now let's see if Diaboromon can keep teleporting out of the way when he has several dozen missiles after him! Mega Barrage!!" Several smaller green missiles were fired towards the other mega but he quickly noticed their presence and teleported away to safety. "That's it!! I can't just sit here while those two have all the fun!!" Sakuyamon moved some distance away from the Digidestined, enough to get closer to the fight but close enough in case Diaboromon tried to attack their friends. "Amethyst Wind!!!" Diaboromon barely dodged out of the way before teleporting again.

"Does this guy have three sets of eyes or something?!?" yelled Gallantmon in frustration. "I guess this is what he meant when he said that he got an upgrade..." murmured Megagargomon. Diaboromon paused to quickly consider his options while keeping focused on the three mega Digimon. Had he been smart, he would have considered retreating, as his main objective had been completed. 

'It will only be a matter of time until they have exhausted their energy. But with this little trinket, I don't have to use up as much energy.' Diaboromon stared at the other three Digimon coolly, as if daring them to attack. Moments later, someone did take up that dare but the trio standing in front didn't do it. The demon Digimon whirled around to see a large pink rabbit Digimon. This gave Gallantmon a rare opportunity to strike. He flew towards the other Digimon with his sword raised high. "Invincible Sword!!!" 

For anyone seeing the battle from a different view, they would have seen a red shape streak across the hovering black one. At the moment they intersected, a small slashing noise could be heard. As soon as the red object got away, the black one exploded into data. (AN: This sequence is similar to when Tallgeese was destroying one of the carriers containing a whole bunch of Serpent troops in GW: Endless Waltz)  

Just as Sakuyamon caught the fallen chess piece that Diaboromon had dropped, Imperialdramon came out of nowhere and landed on the ground, being careful not to squish the other Digidestined. Moments later, Ken and Davis were dropped off from the mega Digimon's back. "There you are!! I've been trying to reach you guys on the D terminal for the past few minutes!!" exclaimed Davis in an irritated tone. Cody gave the other boy an apologetic look. "Sorry that we couldn't set aside some time to look for you but we decided to try and resolve the tower mystery first. And with everything that's been happening around here, we never got a chance to sit down and check the terminals." 

 "Now that Diaboromon no longer presents a problem, maybe we can deal with this tower." Before Gallantmon could try anything, he heard Sakuyamon call out to him. "Catch!!" She tossed him the Goliath Knight piece. "Oh, right…this thing gives me a bit of a power boost and we'll need all the power we can get."

Megagargomon considered their options. "Maybe if we combine our powers, we can overcome the forcefield being put up by the tower. Imperialdramon…you in?" The other mega Digimon had already powered up his cannon so it was obvious what his answer was. Then Megagargomon focused his attention to the pink rabbit Digimon who had assisted them earlier. "I don't know why you decided to help us but are you willing to help again?" Before the other Digimon could give a reply, Gallantmon started to speak in an impatient tone. "We should attack as soon as possible!! The more we wait, the more power it could gain!!"

That was when the pink rabbit Digimon spoke…and the voice that came out was completely foreign but hauntingly familiar. "You know, being angwy all the time isn't healthy for you." Gallantmon was lucky that he was wearing a face mask because his face had completely twisted in pure shock. Henry on the other hand didn't seem to notice his friend's reaction until he saw the holy knight just floating there. "So you know who she is? Is she good? Is she evil? Is she stronger than all of us?"

"Uh…she's your little sister, Suzie." "SAY WHAT?!?!?!?" Gallantmon could have sworn that both Terriermon and Henry's voices came out at the same time. Kerpymon gave a giggle before moving quickly to glomp Megagargomon's head affectionately. The others couldn't help but laugh at this adorable scene even with the shocking revelation that Suzie could biomerge. 

"I hate to interrupt this special moment but we should focus our energies on taking down that tower. Hopefully, the forcefield will collapse due to our combined might," stated Imperialdramon after morphing into Fighter Mode. The other mega Digimon prepared themselves to strike the structure. Takato barely noticed that Guilmon's presence and attention had been diverted to something else within. "Positron Laser!!" "Dragon Helix!!" "Lightning Spear!!" "Gargo Missile!!" "Final Justice!!!" All five attacks concentrated on the same spot but when the smoke cleared, the forcefield remained in place. 

Imperialdramon had a small shocked look after pouring every ounce of strength into his shot. "Unbelievable!! Just how is that thing still standing?!? Now what?!?" Nobody could give an answer. But Gallantmon hadn't even heard the question as Takato was trying to make sense of what Guilmon is screaming about. 

"B-but how is this possible? Didn't Grani self-destruct to save the others in order to avoid a collision or something?" Takato could feel his partner shaking him…not in a physical sense of course but Guilmon's franticness was apparent. "No, no!!! Grani said that he grafted…I think that's the word…himself onto our pattern but if we wait for too long, he'll be stuck inside us forever!!"

Guilmon started relaying Grani's instructions to his tamer. Takato didn't really have a clue on how he was going to force both digital patterns apart but he owed Grani that much. Gallantmon closed his eyes and focused on separating himself from Grani. "I guess that settles it. Lopmon is going to lead us to the Sovereign himself…" Yolei trailed off as she saw what was happening to Gallantmon. Moments later, the holy knight Digimon stood in his normal armour with Grani right in front of him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!!"

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Inside every demon lord and evil Digimon lies a consciousness called the evil intent. (AN: this is somewhat based on the evil intent story for Akuma and Ryu in the Street Fighter games) This contains the very core of evil that makes these Digimon so diabolical and dangerous. And should someone lose focus on their goal, the evil intent reinforces that darkness. Right now, it was berating a certain demon lord Digimon named Beelzemon. 

'You're such an idiotic asshole, you know that? What's so hard about killing these two human brats who caused you so much grief in the past? Just toss them somewhere, take out your shotgun, point and shoot!!' Beelzemon  brought Behemoth to a stop and took Ai and Mako out. After placing the still unconscious children on the ground, he took out a shotgun from his back and aimed it at the two. But he hesitated on whether to pull the trigger. 

'They deserve this for treating you like a toy in the past. Besides, you were willing to kill the younger tamer with those other three tamers in the past few weeks. What's the damn difference? Demon lords are supposed to be causing chaos and destruction, not babysitting!!' Beelzemon didn't respond as he was lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even hear someone shout "Guardian Barrage!!" and "Pu!" The next thing he knew, a small explosion hit him on the side, not causing serious damage but his vision had been temporarily compromised. Then his shotgun got trapped in a heart shaped bubble. Moments later, the bubble exploded, deleting the gun.

"So much for staying out of danger…instead of worrying about that army out there, we worry about this mega Digimon right here," mumbled Kazu. Guardromon armed another batch of missiles. "We must protect those two children from that demon lord!! And with our numbers, we can surely hold him off while Leomon and Dobermon rescue the children!!"

Beelzemon tried to turn back to check on his former tamers but two other Digimon had gotten there first. Leomon had both children under his arms while Dobermon appeared to be covering for them. Alice whipped out a card and her D-Ark. "Digi Modify!! Metalgarurumon's Metal Wolf Claw Activate!!" Dobermon fired the attack but Beelzemon blocked the shot with his arms. "Now you've gone and done it. It's time for all of you to die!!!"

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For this Digimon, his life was simple. Upload data, get stronger. It's all he has done since his birth. His strength seemed to increase dramatically every time he uploaded the data of a stronger Digimon. Like when he deleted that Piedmon in his earliest form. Strange how a mega could fall to an in-training Digimon so easily. But things have changed…especially when he found that weird rift near a temple where a giant turtle Digimon had formerly inhabited. 

There appeared to be some sort of barrier but it was weak. It could not compare to his great strength all thanks to his current body. When he went through, he found himself trapped in a fog before feeling the whole world spiral out of control. It wasn't long until he found himself in some sort of desert, somewhat similar to the digital world he knew but not as much. But it wasn't the scenery that captured his attention. It was the other Digimon and that white haired boy who were trying to destroy him. Of course, they stood no chance but there was something familiar about them. He vaguely remembered seeing their faces just as he hatched. Actually, only the boy looked familiar. His Digimon just took on the form of that other familiar Digimon but otherwise, there was nothing interesting about him. 

Neo Saiba watched as the gargantuan Digimon, which had a green body with red parts on his legs, giant red claws and toes as well as a pair of medium sized demonic wings,  deleted his partner and absorbed his data right in front of him. So this was it…he knew that by taking this road that he may run into an obstacle that cannot be overcome or avoided. When he first confronted this Digimon, he could not find out much except his weight and that did jack squat if they didn't know anything else about the enemy they were fighting. The boy closed his eyes and waited for death to come. 

"Why do you look so familiar?" Neo opened his eyes to see the other Digimon with a look of curiosity on his face. He wasn't sure if the other Digimon was toying with him but he decided to play along for now. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe I resemble your tamer or something…as if you really need one considering how strong you are now. Just what type of Digimon are you anyway?" The Digimon then recited the only words he knew of his identity. "I am the super ultimate Digimon…ArcaDemon."

That wraps up the First Arc!! I guess the combination of lack of time, my somewhat high literary standards and a small bit of writer's block led to this being late. I have a good reason for resurrecting Grani so stay tuned. Over the past few months, I've posted chapters in html format instead of text. Is it easier to read? Or would you prefer for me to go back to the way I used to write? Let me know when you review.


	11. Second Arc, Episode I

Author's Notes: Post secondary education eats up a lot of your time even though you have a ton of freedom. It's pretty intoxicating, that's for sure. At the rate I'm writing, this story may have to be on hiatus for a bit. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 2.1

Beelzemon couldn't understand it. At first, those other champion Digimon were nothing but a minor amusement. Although they had a mega on their side, he was no where near as strong to the demon lord. But those other nuisances started to tap into a strength that he had never expected…the strength that came from a child's belief. Not to mention the fact that the Catalyst of Digivolution was with them as well.

Three of the children had transformed one of their playing cards into a blue card. Beelzemon had no idea what it represented…until the children decided to give it a try. "Digi Modify!! Matrix Digivolution Activate!!" The red mark on Calumon's forehead had begun to glow.

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION….

"Guardromon digivolved to…Andromon!!" 

"Dobermon digivolved to…Cerberusmon!!"

"Leomon digivolved to…Grapleomon!!"

Instead of a small brown machine, a lion warrior and a large dog, he faced a large android, a three headed dog and a lion warrior with armour. 'Wait a minute!! Since when can these clowns digivolve to ultimate?!?' Beelzemon had no time to ponder the answer to this question when the three ultimate Digimon came at him in a furious assault. "Lightning Blade!!" "Emerald Blaze!!" "Cyclonic Kick!!"

He quickly got out of the way but a final question was nagging at the back of his head. 'What about that other pipsqueak mega?' The virus saw the pixie Digimon a split second later with the heart on his chest glowing with power. 'Those three were just decoys!!!' MarineAngemon let out a huge 'Pu!!!!' before firing a blast of energy from his mouth. The next thing Beelzemon knew, he was trapped in a gigantic heart shaped bubble. 

'I don't believe this!! Those kids were setting me up the entire time!!' He had no further time to think as he felt his energy slowly being drained. The three ultimate Digimon were standing in front of him in case he somehow burst free. At first, he couldn't understand how he was losing strength at for that matter, he didn't care as long as he got out. He took out the shotgun by his leg and fired multiple shots but the bubble still remained intact. Eventually, he was forced to transform back to his rookie form as the bubble had fulfilled its purpose and drained the former demon lord of his power.

"I told you that this plan would work!! Am I a genius or what?" Before Kenta could use this opportunity to make a sarcastic remark at Kazu's rhetorical question, he noticed the two smaller children regaining consciousness. "Hey, are you two alright?" The little girl didn't reply as she gave a small gasp of surprise at what was happening. 

"Don't hurt him!! He's our friend!!" This greatly surprised the tamers and their Digimon when the two smaller children ran in front to protect the fallen Impmon. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "They just wake up and say I'm their friend even though I deserted them both. And they don't care about how scary those other Digimon are…none of this is making any sense!!"

Ai and Mako turned back to the small virus Digimon. "We know that you're angry because of us fighting over you and we're very sorry," said Ai softly. Her brother gave a small nod. "After you left, we talked to daddy about you and that we fought because I  wanted you to be my very special friend and mine alone and she wanted the same thing. Then he told us that you chose the both of us to be your special friends and that we would have to share. Now we share a lot of things and it's a whole lot better than fighting over it!" (AN: Their father assumed Impmon was some sort of imaginary friend)

Before Impmon could start thinking again, a cold feeling washed over him as a new presence was felt in the real world. The other Digimon started to react to it too. "What is it?" asked Alice. Grapleomon simply growled as he looked outside. There, hovering in the air was a Ladydevimon but there was something not right about her. She gave a tiny frown. 'Great…of the four worlds that Lord Daemon plans to take over, I get to check out the most boring one.'

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Terriermon blinked when he saw the structure before his eyes. "So this is where the giant turkey lives? Kind of a funny looking birdcage." The tamers had split back to their normal forms and were heading to Zhuqiaomon's sanctuary along with the Digidestined on Imperialdramon. Grani had been following them, in case there was trouble. Lopmon had been going over a few things about the guardian of the Southern sector of the digital world, especially his grudge against humans and Digimon with human partners. 'I think I should add devas who had acquired a tamer to the list.' She gave a small sigh as she made the long journey into the lair of her former master.

"Unreal. This is definitely not like Azulongmon's place," mumbled Davis as he walked through the hallway with the others. The group found themselves in a large, not to mention hot, cavern. There was fire almost everywhere. "Hey! I think I see something!!" exclaimed Ken.

Moments later, a giant phoenix appeared out of nowhere. "How dare you humans trespass in my domain!!" Rika, Henry and Takato instinctively placed their hands on their Digivices and prepared to biomerge when Lopmon stepped forward. "My lord, they are not trespassers. I have brought them here…" 

 Zhuqiaomon examined the smaller Digimon closer and faintly recognized the trace of power lying within. "Antylamon? I had thought that you had died fighting Millenniumon.  You dare to show your face in my presence after you had become a…partner with a human?!? Explain yourself!!" Lopmon looked upon her former master. "Millenniumon had ambushed us during our search and he had recovered sufficient strength to defeat all of us. Everyone except Majiramon and myself had been deleted and uploaded. He was about to delete the both of us when an unusual portal had opened, one that he had not generated. It had seemed that it was destiny that had thrown me into the life of the little girl behind me for when the day was done, we were partners."

The phoenix remained silent as Lopmon continued to speak. "I'm certain you are aware of the situation that is spreading throughout all four realms. We require transportation to Azulongmon's realm to try and prevent the fourth tower from being erected. Will you allow us to transport through your gateway?" Takato blinked. "Um, I don't think that Zhuqiaomon would be willing to help us anytime soon…"  

Lopmon had a sinking feeling in her stomach with the fact that Takato may be correct but she continued to try and persuade the phoenix. "This is not the time to be holding grudges, my lord. Time is of the essence." Zhuqiaomon began to speak. "I understand the fact that there is a time and place for everything. You do not have to remind me. Unfortunately…I do not have sufficient energy to direct the gateway to your destination so you can end up in any human or digital world." This was a difficult statement for him to make, especially with a human audience.

"I believe I can assist with that. I can feed in the proper coordinates to this realm." The humans weren't able to understand what Grani just said but their partners were relieved that the problem had been taken care of. Zhuqiaomon seemed to erupt into flames for a moment but when the fire died down, a giant door had appeared. Grani found a small interface and input the data. At the same time, the giant door began to slide upwards. Moments later, the group as well as Grani had disappeared, leaving the phoenix alone in his chambers. 'Apparently Azulongmon has been recovering well if he was able to send his chosen to my realm. What's wrong with me?'

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"So your world is on the road to unity between the humans and the Digimon. That's good stuff…it'll be a while before we catch up." Henry brushed some of the dust off of his orange vest. "Hey, I don't know about you but I'm starved!! Let's grab some lunch!!" shouted Terriermon. 

The Digidestined had confused looks on their faces. "Actually, it's time for dinner. Our Digivices say that it's about 6 PM," said TK. Terriermon's face fell. "What?!?! That means that I've been denied a meal!! I want justice!!! I demand retribution!!" "Shut up, rabbit!!" I'll let you guess who said that.

Veemon could feel his stomach rumbling. "It's been a busy day and we could all use some food to recharge ourselves. Hey, I know a place in Digi-Chinatown that serves absolutely amazing stuff!!" Takato's face brightened. "Is it that Destiny Stone noodle soup or something…oh, wait. Digitamamon…I shouldn't have brought that subject up." But nobody had heard him as they were already following Veemon. "Wait for me!!"

"These guys serve teppanyaki since they knew that human customers may be coming to the digital world soon. But the major sweetness factor was that they recognized us as celebrities since we all defeated Lunarmillenniumon so our meals should be on the house!!" A small drop of sweat appeared on Rika's forehead. "Um…will they be able to handle 20 mouths for free? And how do they know that we beat Lunarmillenniumon?"

"I think Azulongmon broadcast our victory or something because when that crazy Digimon was around, I've heard that every other Digimon was getting the willies or something since Lunarmillenniumon's power could be felt almost everywhere. Besides, once the news spreads out that they've served a meal to the heroes who saved everything, they should get lots of customers!!" 

Veemon was feeling exceptionally proud. "There's enough for everyone so you can stuff yourselves silly!!" Terriermon and Guilmon gave loud cheers. "Hey, Renamon. If you're not comfortable with anything in that place, I can go talk with the manager or something and he can fix it up!!" The fox Digimon had another concern on her mind. "It would be impolite to 'stuff ourselves silly', seeing how much it would probably cost to serve all of us."

At that moment, fate had decided to mock her as her stomach growled just as she finished that statement. Almost everyone burst into laughter. Veemon had a gigantic grin. "It looks like someone is disagreeing with you." Renamon shot a glare at the other Digimon. "Shut up, lizard."

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Neo's eyes widened at this new revelation. "That's impossible!! Imperialdramon obliterated you right after you hatched!!" ArcaDemon looked at the human with a puzzled look. "As I recall, the first thing I saw was…yes. It was you and another Digimon. Then a Piedmon appeared out of nowhere and took you both by surprise. After he finished with the both of you, I reacted. The next thing I knew, I had uploaded his data and transformed to my rookie stage."

"Extraordinary!! An in-training Digimon able to defeat a mega Digimon so easily! And I could have raised that Digimon if it weren't for Daemon!!" ArcaDemon ignored Neo's rantings. "What was the nature of the relationship between you, me and that other Digimon?" The boy crossed his arms. "Daemon was the one who created you. He poured a large amount of energy into your development as did I. I was supposed to be the one who would have you as a partner and raise you to the best that you could be but it was because of Daemon that everything got ruined."

"This whole concept of having a…tamer is confusing. Partners, bonds…none of this makes sense. How can a Digimon draw power from a human?" Neo gave a small shrug. "Nobody really knows. The only way to try and understand this is to have a partner in the first place." 

"Very well then." At that moment, both of his Digivices started glowing. "It is done. You are now my partner." Neo looked at ArcaDemon in amazement. "How…? I don't believe this!! How can you just come out of nowhere and become my new Digimon without even blinking?!?" The ultimate Digimon never gave him an answer as he was trying to understand the nature of the bond between a Digimon and a tamer.   

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"I'm hungry…sheesh. I didn't do anything wrong and I still don't get any supper." Zero just kept complaining but neither his tamer nor his counterpart were paying much attention. Taichi was trying to get all the details of the Omega Sword into his notebook while Tai still had to wait for any sort of result from what had previously happened. It was rather quiet, save for Zero's complaints. 

Then the silence was broken by a familiar voice. "So there you guys are!! Sora just called and she was babbling about how there were two of you and everything…whoa!!" Matt had just seen Taichi with his own eyes. "My other self is here because of a similar mission that the other Digidestined had to take to the tamers' world. How is she anyway?" asked Tai.

"Uh…she'll probably need some time to settle down before trying to talk to the both of you again. You gave her quite a scare." Gennai couldn't help but chuckle. "Having two versions of the person who can drive you insane can be extremely scary." Tai gave the other man a glare. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Matt slowly approached the other boy who was still sketching in his notebook. He heard Tai shout "Don't ask him who he is!!" but the boy still fired the question to Taichi anyways. He immediately regretted it afterwards. 

"Since there is technically supposed to be one of me, you get the one!!" "And my name is Zeromaru so you get two zeros!! What does that make?" The duo immediately struck their trademark pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!" Matt just stood there while Tai was shouting at him. "I told you not to ask him!!!"

This was a bit of a filler chapter but things should get rolling off in the next few chapters. With December exams around the corner, I'm gonna have to hit the books soon so I'll do as much as I can before that happens. Anyways, here is my five word response for Frontier appearing in Canada: it is about damn time. Catch the show Fridays at 3 PM on YTV. The theme has a Native American beat to it. Must be because of the spirit evolution concept replacing the partner Digimon. 


	12. Second Arc, Episode II

Author's Notes: The little dinner scene is going to be based on my personal experiences with eating teppanyaki. It's pretty cool especially when the food is cooked right in front. You'll see what I mean.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 2.2

'From my analysis of the geographic characteristics as well as climactic factors, I can determine that this is indeed the Southern realm. But I was nowhere near any loopholes…and apparently, the boy is alive here and now. Perhaps this is a result of that temporal incursion I sensed some time ago.' Neo quickly snapped ArcaDemon out of his thoughts. "Did you find anything yet?" 

Earlier, ArcaDemon had explained that he had uploaded the data of the two-headed turtle Digimon, Ebonwumon. This included his knowledge of the loopholes as well as certain characteristics of each digital world. Neo had recalled that the turtle Digimon was still alive from where he came from. The only explanation was that ArcaDemon had originated from another quantum plane. Although technically, this ArcaDemon was not his, the boy didn't really care as he had finally obtained the Digimon he was supposed to raise months ago.

"The loopholes are in very specific locations but they are still difficult to detect. Have patience, Neo." It was quite different for the Digimon to be tolerating someone this much. If it were any other person or Digimon, he would have already killed them by now. Strange. "I believe I have something." The boy's eyes lit up. "So this loophole will lead back to where I came from?"

ArcaDemon nodded. "It should, yes. Since you existed in the Northern realm, as far as I can remember, this little tear should be able to get us back there. There is a minor risk of being eternally lost in the cosmos…" Neo punched both of his fists together. "I don't give a damn. There is much to be done. And when that third-rate trash tamer returns home, I'll have a few surprises waiting for him."

As soon as Neo finished speaking, a doorway opened in front of him and his Digimon. "My time of triumph is at hand!!" The boy leapt through the gate with ArcaDemon right behind him but when he reached the other side, he was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. "A city? I don't recognize this city…" ArcaDemon had a puzzled look. "That loophole should have led back to the Northern realm but instead, we have wound up in the Eastern realm. Obviously the loopholes that I know of are different in your quantum plane."

"So how long is it gonna take to locate the loophole that leads back to the Northern realm?" asked Neo. "I cannot determine that, Neo." He just growled at ArcaDemon's answer. "So we're off to search for a needle in a haystack." He regretted saying that as his Digimon started asking him questions about that figure of speech.

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Those kids and their Digimon are a lot different than I expected. Somehow, one of those humans knew about the Destiny Stone soup and said how it was better than miso soup," muttered one of the Tapirmon waiters. Another Tapirmon looked at the two teppanyaki tables where the group was sitting at. The red Digimon took his bowl of soup and drank it down in one big swig. Moments later, he was pounding his chest as he had drunk it too fast. Then the fox Digimon pounded his back to try and help him. Eventually, he let out a huge "UUUURRRRPPPP!!!!!" Terriermon started laughing. "That was a wicked belch, Guilmon!! I bet I can make a louder one!!" 

Hawkmon shook his head in disgust as Terriermon attempted to make a louder belch than Guilmon. "Haven't you ever heard of something called dignity?" Armadillomon sighed. "Probably not. Wonder when they'll be ready to start cooking?" At that moment, a Tapirmon had placed a tray of raw food on a cart and had a pair of cooking utensils in his possession.

As the other group started savouring their meal, TK couldn't help but notice the carefree looks on the faces of all the tamers. 'They've been through a crazy time. It's nice that they can finally let go and just relax. Heck, even their Digimon seem to be enjoying themselves.' He looked over to see Veemon frantically patting his horn on his snout as he had gotten too close to the fire that erupted when the chef was cooking. 

There was cheering from the other Digimon (except Veemon) as Guilmon got up to try something behind the table. He took a full bowl of fried rice that had been made earlier and put it on one of the utensils. Then with a quick motion, he flipped it and caught it in his left paw. Throughout the flip, none of the rice spilled. (AN: I did this for real and I spilled some rice and I was pretty scared that I would drop the bowl with the rice as well) The other Digimon applauded except for Veemon who just grumbled about how Guilmon was showing off.

"Man, that was great!! I haven't had a good meal like that since…gee, I can't remember," mumbled Takato. The meal had taken about a little over an hour and it was almost half past seven. Guilmon expressed his satisfaction by letting out another belch. Terriermon gave a sigh. "How does the guy do it?"

A slight shift in the wind captured Renamon's attention. "What's wrong?" asked her tamer. The fox Digimon pointed a paw to a direction. "Something is going on over there. It could possibly be another tower being erected on the soil of this digital world." Rika narrowed her eyes. "Alright, let's go!!"

But as soon as she said that, a small light show displayed itself shortly in the opposite direction. "Seems that there's something going on over there too," murmured Henry. "Alright then. I'm going to check out that light show while you guys can check out Renamon's hunch over there," stated Takato.

"I wanna come too!!" chirped the voice of Suzie Wong. Henry wanted to argue but at this time, it was pointless as his little sister was already right behind Takato. "Wait up!!" He started to run to catch up to the other two tamers. Rika turned to the other Digidestined. "With goggle head and the others on their own, we'll go and see what has Renamon so worried about."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Wow…this guy is pretty annoying. Just like you when you were the same age, Tai." Matt gave a chuckle at that thought. Tai came up from behind him. "I didn't do any stupid poses or anything with Agumon. This guy is completely different from me except for the same handsome looks and great fashion style." Matt laughed even harder at that remark. 

Zero gave a groan as his stomach started to rumble again. Taichi decided to speak to Gennai. "Hey, Zero is really starting to get hungry so is there any place where he can chow down and get his strength back?" Gennai gave a smile. "You two can come over to my home and I'll see what I can prepare for you. As soon as I finish up with some things here, I can lead you back." Taichi grinned. "Just let us know when you're done."

As he finished that sentence, a small light show started to display itself in the distance. "What was that?" asked Elecmon. Zero gave a sigh. "Looks like my dinner will have to wait..." Taichi took out his notebook and found the appropriate page. "Here…this should keep you satisfied until after we investigate this thing. Digi Scan!!"

Zero felt his hunger go away temporarily along with new energy. He digivolved to his ultimate form and let Taichi climb on his back. "I'll be back…and I'll be expecting that dinner, Gennai!!" The duo then flew off into the night. Gennai remembered how much the Digimon that he had treated just before they left for Myotismon's castle had eaten and made a mental note to prepare a fairly large meal. 

The moment of silence that followed after the tamer's departure was broken by Sora's voice. "Tai Kamiya!! I know that you're involved in this whole mess somehow so start talking!!" Behind the girl stood Izzy, Mimi and Joe. "Sora has called each of us and was talking about how there were two of you. Now would you like to explain what is going on?" 

Matt gave Tai a hearty slap on the back. "I'm sure that Tai can answer all of your questions!! He's probably done some digging around before you guys showed up!!" the other boy just gave a nervous laugh. He still couldn't understand what was going on so how can he expect to explain it to his friends. Before he could give a response, Elecmon gave a shout. "Hey, you guys!! There is something that you've just got to see!!" The group ran over to where Elecmon was shouting. In front were two digieggs, one with the Crest of Courage and the other with the Crest of Friendship. "T-they made it back…"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

'She's just an ultimate!! How can she be this strong?!? Something is seriously wrong here…' Jeri stopped scanning the Digimon above the group and got out a card. "Digi Modify!! Seraphimon Activate!!" Grapleomon fired another attack which was infused with holy energy this time but Ladydevimon had enough speed to avoid it completely.

"That Digimon has got to be on some sort of super drug or something!! I've never seen an ultimate level Digimon have this much power!!" exclaimed Kazu. She had already taken out Cerberusmon and Andromon without much trouble. "Talk about minimal resistance…oh, well. I'll have to report back to the Master soon." She had a small device on her waist to open a return gateway back to where she came from.

Impmon had a dejected look on his face. "Great. She can just finish us off without even trying. What a way to go…" One of his partners looked at him. "Can't you do anything to stop her?" The rookie Digimon gave a frustrated growl before snapping at the child. "I can't do anything without my power!!!"

"But we know that you have powers!! I mean you can make little fireballs!!" exclaimed Ai. Impmon gave a small snort. "That's not going to do squat against super devil woman up there. I'm gonna need some major firepower to take her down!!" A thought just came to Mako. "Like a really big gun?"

"It can't be too big!! After all, Impmon should be able to easily lift it and stuff! And since that evil lady can fly, Impmon should have big wings like an angel!!" Mako blinked at the thought of Impmon having angelic wings and shook his head. "It won't really fit. If he's going to have wings, they have to be black and scary." "How about black angel wings?" Both children started imagining their Digimon with black angel wings and a very large gun. 

At the same time, Impmon could feel the power of evolution growing inside his body. This time, it wasn't like when he got the power from the fire turkey a while ago. No…this was different. And it didn't feel that bad, considering that it was coming from the imaginations of his tamers. A flash of light enveloped his body and when the show was over, Beelzemon stepped out…this time with black wings on his back and a large weapon in his right hand. "You're back!!" exclaimed Calumon with a hint of fear.

"Don't worry, cream puff. I got other things to do." He looked down at the two amazed children. 'So this is the strength of belief…who knew that humans could strengthen Digimon like this?' He took off into the air and aimed his new weapon at Ladydevimon. "Corona Blaster!!!"

The pink beam collided with the other Digimon, dealing a fair amount of damage. Ladydevimon gave a small hiss. "That hurt…looks like things are going to get a lot more interesting." Kenta just looked in shock. "First he tried to kill us!! Now he's helping us!! Just what is going on around here?!?!?" MarineAngemon gave a tiny shrug.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

'Fool…he should have retreated when he had the chance. Perhaps this is what the Master meant by not pursuing personal agendas.' Armageddemon had found an isolated area of the digital world and was prepared to set up the fourth tower. The place that he had selected would help the tower achieve maximum range. But the terrain surrounding the area did present excellent concealment for enemies who would try and sneak in. 

It didn't really matter to Armageddemon since he was a mega Digimon and all. Unless the enemy had a great deal of strength to make his master concerned, then there was nothing to worry about. He began to concentrate as the data that his master had given him begun to take on a physical form. Moments later, the tower had been erected but it would not be operational for about fifteen minutes.

So for the moment, he had to play bodyguard. This was the part of the job that was most boring but things will be looking up soon. Once all four towers had been erected in all four realms of this plane, the show can truly begin. The Digimon gave a dark smile as he thought about upcoming plans. A small sound then captured his attention. It was extremely faint but definitely there. "There's the fourth tower!! Someone already built it!!" There it was. Armageddemon decided to exit discreetly and observe who would come out to try something with the tower.

"It doesn't look like it's activated yet. No glowing or anything. Maybe we can take it down before it activates!!" exclaimed Gatomon. Renamon didn't look too sure. "I wouldn't be so sure. Diaboromon was guarding the tower in our world. There may be another guard similar to him." "Black Rain!!" 

Patamon gave a small gasp as several energy bolts came from above. "Heads up!!!" The group scattered to avoid the attack. A giant spider Digimon then came out of nowhere and prepared another attack. "Mega Flare!!" The ground exploded right in front of TK's face. Rika took out her D-Ark while the other Digidestined prepared to fight. "Show time, Renamon!! Biomerge Activate!!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Don't run so fast, Henry!!" The boy didn't listen to his partner, who was holding on for dear life. "If I slow down, Takato and Suzie will get too far ahead and I just want to make sure that-" "No seriously, Henry!! Don't run so fast!! I'm feeling really queasy!!" Henry allowed himself to smile as he kept running. "Momentai! It can't be that bad…"

He stopped suddenly as he started hearing barfing noises. Terriermon had leapt off the boy and proceeded to hurl up dinner. Henry crossed his arms. "That's what you get for stuffing yourself." The vaccine Digimon didn't give a response until he was feeling better. "Actually, you just shouldn't do anything that could put a strain on your body after a huge meal."

While Terriermon was vomiting up his dinner, Takato and Suzie along with their respective Digimon partners had arrived. The source of the light came from a tiny doorway that was opening and closing. "What is dat?" asked the younger tamer. Takato wasn't sure how to answer the question. But fortunately, Lopmon provided an answer. "I think this may be one of the loopholes."

The puzzled looks on the faces of both tamers gave Lopmon the incentive to explain herself. "The digital worlds of each of the realms are connected to each other. Anybody with a certain amount of power and certain key algorithms can cross realms but each digital world has loopholes which are extremely difficult to find. And once a loophole is used, it instantly moves to another location. Each digital world has three loopholes, one leading to the other three realms. For instance, the Eastern realm would have loopholes leading to the Northern, Western and Southern realms."

"I see what you mean. And there's no way that you can tell which is which?" Lopmon shook her head. Takato gave a small sigh when the loophole started to open wider. Lopmon looked on in alarm. "Something's coming through!!" Guilmon had to shield his eyes as the new entity emerged in the digital world.

When the light died down, the group saw something big and red towering over them. And he didn't look very friendly. Takato focused himself and brought his D-Ark to scan the new Digimon that had just came through. "Chaosdramon, mega level, machine Digimon. Virus type. Specialty attacks are Hyper Mugen Cannon and Chaos Crusher." Guilmon gave a tiny gulp. "Um…hi?"

The other Digimon started to power up his cannons. "Uh…if this is his way of saying 'hello'…then I don't want to know how he says 'nice to meet you'!!" Takato fumbled for his D-Ark while Suzie was uncertain of what to do. "Biomerge Activate!!" As soon as the tamer and Digimon transformed into the holy knight, Chaosdramon fired. "Hyper Mugen Cannon!!"

"Are you better now? You should know better than to stuff your face." Terriermon didn't answer as the light show in front just intensified before an explosion erupted. Both tamer and Digimon were knocked back. Henry could only make out the silhouette of a mysterious Digimon in front but that's all. "Takato!!! Suzie!!!" Chaosdramon focused his sensors on the new target. 

"That monster just came out of nowhere and attacked my friends…he's going down!!!" growled the half Chinese tamer. Had he stopped to examine himself, he would have noticed that an old feeling has returned. One that was supposed to be suppressed through the discipline of martial arts. That feeling had first erupted when he showed off his skills and hurt someone when he started taking martial arts. The feeling to hurt someone and cause pain. Now that feeling has resurfaced and has magnified. With that new feeling clouding his emotions, nobody noticed the white material of his D-Ark turn black for a moment before he shouted the next two words. "Biomerge Activate!!!"

There you have it, folks. Anyways, this is the last update until my examinations are over. By the way, Ryo will be back…but Ryo fans may not like what may happen to him in the upcoming chapters. No, he does not get killed but he gets smacked around a bit. I'll leave it up to you to who will be smacking him around. As for what's happening with Henry, I'll explain next time. That's it for me!! This is Epsilon signing off!!


	13. Second Arc, Episode III

Author's Notes: Christmas is coming soon!! Get those gifts and share the love!! Now that I've said that, on with the story!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. 

Ascension – V 2.3

Ryo Akiyama gave a small groan as Cyberdramon stiffened. Like he always did whenever he sensed a great battle. His partner couldn't help himself though. That instinct grew on him when he merged with Millenniumon. Or perhaps it was something else. Every time his partner fought with an enemy, he fought viciously as if he were facing Millenniumon himself. 

Cyberdramon always blamed himself for being unable to contain the consciousness of their nemesis but then it is difficult to try and contain the conscious mind of a god. They thought they had nothing to worry about since the conscious mind would just roam forever without a physical body. But when the conditions for creating the body are met, then an emergence would take place and the one known as Millenniumon would have returned to life. At least there was only one Millenniumon to worry about. Should conditions be repeated when Millenniumon is already in existence, a body would not be formed.

Ryo broke the silence by asking Cyberdramon where the battle was being fought. The Digimon just indicated a direction and waited for Ryo to hop on before running off. They would have to bio-merge before actually entering the battle if Cyberdramon's instincts were right. And those instincts usually turned out to be correct. 

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Gallantmon started to cough up some of the dust that went by as he focused on holding the shield to protect himself as well as Suzie and Lopmon. "You two alright?" The rookie Digimon gave a weary blink. "Just a little shaken up. What's happening out there?" The holy knight tried to get a good view but the impact of the blast threw them quite some distance. 

"I'll have to go and check things out. Maybe take out Chaosdramon. You stay here. It's the only way that I'll be certain that you're safe." Suzie didn't really give a reply as her heart was still racing from what had previously happened. Gallantmon mentally summoned Grani. Moments later, it came down from the sky at his side. "Let's go!!" 

Chaosdramon was slightly surprised when he saw his opponent still standing after he had fired his attack. But what was more surprising was that he had undergone a rapid growth spurt. A giant black machine stood in front of him with red faces that popped out of shoulder missile launchers. His face, which resembled a dog's, was made out of a brown alloy. And that face was radiating with pure rage.

As Zero flew towards the source of the light show, he saw a familiar shape in the distance. "Am I seeing things? I thought we killed him back in our world!!" Taichi took out a small telescope and looked through it. "He looks a bit different. The last time we saw Umegagargomon, he had yellow faces on his shoulders but these are red." (AN: If you don't remember me ranting about my name for BlackSaintGalgomon, go back to chapter 2)

"So what you are saying is that this is a different one. Are you sure about that? He could have altered his code and gotten a few new changes." The boy lowered his telescope. "That may be true. Get in closer so we can see what happens. If he really did come back to life, we can jump in and take him out!!"

Umegagargomon had delivered several powerful blows to Chaosdramon before kicking him away. Then he focused his aim before firing his attack. "Giant Missile!!" The other mega Digimon quickly dodged one missile and used his body to deflect the other one onto another path. "Chaos Crusher!!"

The vaccine Digimon was forced to step back a bit to block the attack with his arms. Chaosdramon gave a grunt before charging his cannons again. He lost his focus when the other Digimon dashed towards him at a speed that someone his size should not be able to attain. Moments later, Umegagargomon had knocked Chaosdramon into the air. "Burst Shot!!" Several small missiles hit the virus Digimon over and over to keep him vulnerable up in the air.

Finally, when he stopped firing missiles, he punched Chaosdramon as he fell back down. The mega Digimon struggled to get up and was able to do so but he was quite dizzy. Umegagargomon prepared to unleash his final assault on the other Digimon. "Gargo Barrage!!!" Both the giant missiles as well as many smaller ones were shot out of their launchers. Chaosdramon's body couldn't take the stress from all the attacks and he exploded into data.

"Whoa!!" Umegagargomon turned to face whoever was behind him. Gallantmon looked at his friend with a slightly nervous look in his eyes as he was hovering in the air with Grani. Who wouldn't be nervous when your friend has transformed into a darker version of himself and becomes unpredictable? "Henry, it's me!! I've been able to protect Suzie from Chaosdramon and she's safe." "Ta…ka…to?" 

"Positron Laser!!" Umegagargomon gave a shout of pain as he was shot from behind. The holy knight gave a gasp when he saw Imperialdramon in his Fighter Mode with a smoking barrel from his arm laser cannon. "Imperialdramon?!? What are you doing?!? You should be with the others trying to take down that tower!!" The other mega Digimon blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about…" Gallantmon turned to the direction of where the other voice came from and nearly freaked out when he saw a copy of a younger Tai Kamiya speaking. "…so if you don't mind, stand back and let Zero finish the job!!"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Darkness Wave!!" Beelzemon weaved in and out of the city as he dodged Ladydevimon's assault. He wasn't sure how he could effectively fight her. After all, he needed time to adjust to flying but she wouldn't let him. As a warrior, she would use every advantage that she had to complete the kill. The problem was that he was fighting on her terms in the sky. He had to try and combat her using his own tactics. 

"Behemoth!!" The motorcycle roared before speeding off to its master. Beelzemon swooped down and landed on the seat of the motorcycle before driving it up a building and onto its roof. Ladydevimon had an amused expression on her face. "What is it with you biker types anyway? You are obsessed with those pieces of junk." 

Beelzemon drove faster and faster until he drove the motorcycle off the roof, aimed straight at the other Digimon. Ladydevimon quickly flew up to avoid the motorcycle and right into where Beelzemon wanted her to be. He took out his shotgun and fired. "Double Impact!!" She was blasted back to another building. He carefully landed his motorcycle and dismounted before forming his blaster and drawing a star pattern. "End of the line…Corona Destroyer!!!" 

"I'm not through yet!! Darkness Wave!!" When the two attacks hit, they cancelled each other out. "A stalemate…" observed Alice. The tamers had decided that this would be a good time to recover and come up with a new plan to take out Ladydevimon, should Beelzemon be unable to kill her. Grapleomon had slung Andromon over his shoulders while MarineAngemon used a bubble to contain Ceberusmon. 

Both warriors were waiting for the other to move but then Ladydevimon's attention seemed to be focused on something else. Of course, Beelzemon wasn't able to tell since she was wearing a black mask over her demonic visage. Finally, she spoke. "Looks like we'll have to play again some other time." Beelzemon snarled as he prepared to fire his weapon again. "Later, cutie." She gave the other Digimon a wink before something on her waist glowed, enveloping her in a light and making her vanish into thin air.

"Wow!! You were great!!" Beelzemon noticed Ai and Mako running towards him. Calumon was on top of Ai's head. "You sent that evil lady away!!" Beelzemon frowned. "Not quite, kid." He turned his attention to MarineAngemon, who was prepared to trap Beelzemon again in another bubble. "Get these guys home, pipsqueak." The demon lord then hopped on Behemoth and drove away. 

"He's still mad at us, isn't he? That's why he doesn't want to come home," murmured Ai with tears in her eyes. Grapleomon came up from behind. "He cannot return until he has discovered himself. You two have given him a lot to think about and now he has to look at some things again but from a different point of view." The twins just gave the Digimon a confused look. "Let's get the two of you home."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Positron Laser!!" Armageddemon moved out of the way before he fired his own attack at Shakkoumon and Silphymon, who were trying to destroy the tower. Sakuyamon quickly used her staff to deflect the attack before preparing one of her own. "Dragon Helix!!" It hit the other Digimon but he quickly shook it off.

"Just what does it take to destroy this thing?!? Imperialdramon in Paladin Mode and Gallantmon in Crimson Mode combined?!?" Davis had a look of frustration on his face. The other Digidestined weren't sure of how to help in this situation. Cody took out his D-Terminal. "I just hope Henry and Takato can help us out here!!

"You're beginning to annoy me. Mega Flare!!" The mega Digimon unleashed his attack at Sakuyamon, knocking her back and sending her into a freefall. Just before she hit the ground, she felt someone catch her. 'Takato?' But her saviour's face was much different and definitely not the holy knight's. To be honest, her saviour really didn't have much of a face at all.

She didn't really like the fact that she was saved by a complete stranger. But it could have been worse. It could have been Ryo. By the way his body looked, he looked like a mega Digimon. She quickly started analyzing the Digimon. 'Justimon…mega android Digimon. Vaccine type. Specialty attacks are Justice Kick, Voltage Blade and Thunder Clap…' (AN: Rika is so going to hurt me with the BAM. T_T)

Before she could think of something to say, Justimon began to speak. "I don't think I'm cut out to be saving damsels in distress." The blood in her veins just froze when she heard that voice. Yes, it was distorted and merged with someone else's voice but it was definitely there. That irritating voice that annoyed Rika Nonaka to the ends of the earth. Suddenly, she had just realized that her worst nightmare came true and that she had been rescued, like a damsel in distress, by the one and only…Ryo Akiyama.

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"

Justimon winced as the Digimon in his arms gave a loud scream like someone in a horror movie. "Traditionally, you should just say thank you instead of screaming out like that." "Just shut up, Mr. Perfect!!!" Sakuyamon jabbed the other Digimon in the chest with her elbow as hard as she could before hopping out of his arms. Slowly, Ryo remembered who used to call him that name. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Rika. And you're welcome by the way."

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Tai!! Imperialdramon!! Just what is wrong with you two?!?" Gallantmon was utterly confused beyond belief. The Tai look-a-like narrowed his eyes. "I'm assuming you know Tai Kamiya? Look, buster. I'm not him. This Imperialdramon has been with me for quite some time. I'm guessing that there's another Imperialdramon out there." "Who are you?"

"Well…technically, there is supposed to be one of me, Taichi Yagami, so that's where you get the one!!" Imperialdramon then got into his speech. "And my name is Zeromaru so that's where you get two zeroes!! What does that make?" The duo struck their trademark pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!!"

Their speeches and posing didn't help to alleviate the holy knight's confusion. In fact, it made his confusion even worse. "What? One hundred percent combination? Taichi Yagami? What is this?" Taichi stood up. "We can explain later but first we have to delete this Digimon. Zero…do your stuff." Umegagargomon had not been able to get up since he used up a lot of energy fighting Chaosdramon. 

Gallantmon flew in front of Imperialdramon. "Hold it!!! I don't know what's your story but this is my friend and I'm not about to let you delete him!!" Zero looked at Taichi. Once he saw the look on his tamer's face, he turned back to the virus Digimon. "You obviously have not seen the beast that this Digimon could become. When I saw his face, he had the exact murderous look that I saw when we met back in my world. Now step aside. I promise that we'll explain everything after but we need to finish him while his guard is down."

"You guys come from another world or something? Just tell me everything now!! Please!! Before someone does something rash without knowing all the facts!!" Zero ignored the holy knight and fired his Positron Laser at the fallen body of Umegagargomon. "Oh no, you don't!! Yuggoth Blaster!!"

The blast collided with the attack and neutralized it completely. "If you want to try and kill my friend, then you're going to have to get by me!!" Zero narrowed his eyes while Taichi scanned the holy knight. "Gallantmon is going to be tough, Zero. That glider gives him extra speed and agility in the air and he also gets additional attacks. Plus that shield of his gives him a strong defense. Uplink!!"

'This is crazy!! Why can't they just tell me what's going on?!?' Gallantmon quickly dodged Zero's attack before swooping around to counter. He had to stay close and make sure that Imperialdramon doesn't get a clear shot at his friend. 'I just hope that Henry can change back and end this whole mess!!' "Dragon Driver!!" Zero was knocked back but he was far from out of the fight. "Positron Laser!!"

'Zero!! Try making a shift to change the wind current to knock him off balance!!' The mega Digimon started focusing but Gallantmon had thrust out his lance and knocked him off balance. In fact, he had to keep dodging that long range weapon. "This isn't going well…Taichi!! A good weapon would be helpful!!"

"I'm on it!!" The boy took out his notebook and flipped through the crusty pages. 'I just hope that my Digivice is good enough to scan the stuff!!' "No, no..." He kept flipping through for drawings, writing, anything that could help. It wasn't until he came across a really messy sketch of a particular weapon.

"Digi Scan!! Omega Sword!!" Gallantmon's eyes nearly bulged out when he heard Taichi shout that out. A sword started to appear in Zero's hands. "This ought to even things up…huh?" He didn't notice that the sword was having a particular effect on him. Taichi and Gallantmon had to shield their eyes but when the show was over, Zero stood up in the air, in his Paladin form.

"Alright!! Now you can take out that guy and Umegagargomon too!!" Zero didn't say anything for a while. "My quarrel is not with you, fellow holy knight. Leave now and I will not harm you." Gallantmon was stunned to say the least but quickly got over this to ponder his dilemma. Taichi had a confused look on his face. Zero noticed this and faced him. "As we are both holy knights, we are bound by a certain code of ethics. It's quite a change from what I used to be." The boy nodded slowly.

"You understand that as a holy knight that I will always defend my friends," stated Gallantmon. Imperialdramon nodded. "And you understand that I must destroy those who have committed great evil." Gallantmon narrowed his eyes. "Since when has our judgment system changed from 'innocent until proven guilty' to 'guilty until proven innocent'?"

Zero sighed. "I am not certain but that is the new concept that must be adapted because of the current situation. Now please step aside." Gallantmon did not flinch. Then he started hovering above his glider. Grani transformed into a brilliant red light before enveloping itself around Gallantmon. When he emerged, he was in red armour with wings on his back. A sword was in one hand with a staff in another. "This is my friend. You must listen and consider what he had to say."

"Time does not give me that luxury and he is drawing power from a forbidden source, which does not bode well for him. You know that I must do my duty." The crimson knight in front of Zero adjusted his focus. "And you know that I can't let you do that." Zero raised his sword. "I see…well then. Good luck." He took a battle stance. Gallantmon did the same. "Same to you."

I've made a slight change to chapter 5 but it shouldn't really affect things. Anyways…I'm now officially a little older and maybe a little wiser!! In about 17 days, I'll be celebrating my second year anniversary being on this site! My writing days started around October, November of 2000 but things messed up and I got kicked off. I discovered this on Christmas Eve of 2000 and had to register again. I even set up my alternate e-mail address just to get a new account. And thus…Epsilon was born!! Now that you know the legendary story of how I came to be on the site, you can all shout HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY, EPSILON when Christmas Eve rolls around. I didn't get lot of feedback when I posted chapter 12 and so I'm a bit unsure of whether I'm on the right track or whether I should change some things. Reviews fuel inspiration and fire up the spirit so please add in your two cents and review!!  


	14. Second Arc, Episode IV

Death's Notes: GREETINGS, READERS. DUE TO RIKA PUTTING EPSILON IN THE HOSPITAL FOR WHAT HE WROTE IN CHAPTER 13, I SHALL BE TAKING OVER FOR HIM UNTIL HE RECOVERS. HAVE A MERRY HOGS…ER…CHRISTMAS. HO HO HO. 

Disclaimer: Epsilon doesn't own anything. Digimon belongs to Bandai, Fox, Saban and whoever else owns it. Death and Death of Rats are being borrowed from Terry Pratchett and the Discworld…uh…world.

Ascension – V 2.4 

Gennai gave a small sigh as he entered his home. To say the day had been hectic would be an understatement. New arrivals, the return of old friends, battles and conspiracies everywhere. All he wanted was to plop down on the couch but he had promised Zero that he would have a dinner waiting. At least he had an idea of how much to cook if Taichi was anything like his counterpart in this world.

Speaking of counterpart, Tai and Matt had been pretty obsessive with the reborn Digieggs of Agumon and Gabumon. Technically, it was impossible to be reconfigured after being deleted for months but the Digidestined always had a habit of pulling off the impossible. Their track record had proven that fact.

But would the Digimon tamers have such luck? And what of Taichi? Eventually, some price would have to be paid for the victories obtained. Casualties are an inevitable part of battle. The death of Omnimon by Lunarmillenniumon is a key example. But that price was somewhat light, even though Tai and Matt would argue otherwise. Real battles and real wars would have casualties far higher. Gennai decided not to think about this for the time being and started gathering ingredients to prepare dinner.

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A flash of light erupted out of nowhere but Daemon wasn't surprised. In fact, he had been expecting this. "Report, Skullsatamon?" The virus Digimon went down on one knee before his master. "The guard tamers have a unique strength and are resourceful adversaries however I have found a flaw in their structure that we can exploit." Daemon gave a small satisfied nod.

"So which world shall we take over first, master?" asked Marinedevimon. Their master sat in his throne, pondering what to do. The other ultimate Digimon decided to report what he had observed when he was looking around the digital world that they were currently residing in. "I have observed something interesting, master."

Daemon didn't respond until Marinedevimon revealed his observation. "Two powerful holy knights appear to be doing battle against each other." The demon lord narrowed his eyes before summoning an image on the wall before them. After several different pictures, it found one with a white Digimon on one side and a red one on the other.

His eyes fell on the large black Digimon that was lying on the ground. "So a new Digimon has tapped into the powers of darkness. Why would the holy knights be fighting one another instead of working together to eradicate this new creature?" Meanwhile, Skullsatamon was grinning. "This is sweet!! Maybe both holy knights can kill each other!! Marinedevimon…you up for a bet?"

"Name the stakes." Skullsatamon's grin did not leave his face. "Alright. Whoever doesn't win the bet has to continuously hit on Ladydevimon for a month." Marinedevimon thought about this for a while before he shook hands with Skullsatamon, sealing the deal. Daemon chuckled. "I don't know which is more amusing: the upcoming battle or the two of you."

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Takato had lived by a few basic rules in his life. Some of those rules applied to real life. Some applied to aspects of his life such as the Digimon card game. One of those rules: viruses should never ever engage in battle against Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. EVER. 'So much for that rule,' thought Gallantmon as he prepared to defend himself. He was going to have to play by a new set of rules while in combat. In the card game, Imperialdramon cuts the power of all opposing virus Digimon in half. Translated here…his armour would be harder for him to crack since Gallantmon is a virus Digimon. 

Although he was decent in using two weapons on an enemy, a warrior with Imperialdramon's caliber and skill would give him trouble if his concentration was split on two weapons instead of one. Zero had initiated the fight with a strong attack from the Omega Sword. Gallantmon had been able to block with his staff. His own sword went in to pierce the other Digimon but Zero blocked with his own blade.  Taichi just looked on anxiously. 'This is too close!! I should help Zero…but he specifically asked me not to help him. This is a battle that he has to fight on his own.'

The vaccine holy knight decided to back off a bit. This gave Gallantmon a small opportunity to go on the offensive. He swung both weapons, the sword at the head and the staff and the ribcage. Zero ducked the sword swing while he blocked the staff. He then whirled around to knock Gallantmon's sword out of his hand. He swooped down to retrieve it but when he landed on the ground, he had to focus on fighting Zero instead. At least he can concentrate on one weapon now.

He kept blocking Zero's attacks with his staff. The staff had been made out of a strong material and it was flexible so he could do a few tricks. The virus holy knight quickly blocked another attack then did the splits and shot the tip of his staff to hit Zero's stomach. It wasn't a hard blow but it was enough to get him to back off. Gallantmon flipped himself back up while Zero prepared to charge again. 'What the?!?' Zero was mind boggled as Gallantmon grabbed both ends of the staff and begun to bend the weapon. When he released it, it soared toward the other holy knight and hit him.

Zero shook it off but the next hit threw him down on to the ground as Gallantmon kicked his staff straight back to him when it bounced off after the first hit. The virus holy knight leapt in the air to retrieve the staff as it bounced off after the second hit. As he prepared to land, he swung the staff so that its tip would hit Zero on landing. But he had raised his sword to block the attack. 

Undaunted, Gallantmon brought his staff back and tried to jam it under Zero so that he can flip him over and attack. It partially worked as Zero flipped over but the vaccine Digimon dashed forward to make a quick attack. Gallantmon barely blocked it time but Zero just leapt up and hit him hard with a strong kick. (DN: ACCORDING TO EPSILON'S NOTES, THIS KICK WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THE KICKS BY GOKU AND TRUNKS IN DRAGON BALL Z 3 ON SUPER NINTENDO)

'I can't take too many hits like that!! Time for a new strategy. Why hasn't Henry changed back yet?!?' The reason is that the normal part of his essence is fighting the darker part for dominance and control. Once one part wins, then the change can take place and the tamer will be separated from his Digimon. 

Gallantmon quickly got back up and saw Zero moving towards him. But before he could slash the other Digimon, Gallantmon disappeared. "Huh?!?" The next thing he knew, the other Digimon had knocked away the Omega Sword with a strong attack from his staff. Zero tried to punch him but Gallantmon teleported again and gave a quick hit from behind. 'Hit and run…sneaky.' 

Zero had taken a number of small hits until he used his senses to predict where Gallantmon would strike next and blocked the next attack. With a strong kick, Gallantmon lost his staff. "Hand to hand…no weapons." Takato smirked inside his sphere. At least he didn't have to worry too much about the Omega Sword for the moment. "Sounds good to me."

Both holy knights engaged in battle again. Gallantmon kept constantly blocking Zero's kicks and dodging his punches while throwing out some of his own. But blocking and dodging wasn't going to get him anywhere fast. When the next punch came in, he parried it before delivering a kick to the chest. (DN: PARRYING HERE WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THE PARRYING SYSTEM IN THE STREET FIGHTER 3 SERIES AND THE P GROOVE IN CAPCOM VS SNK 2 ARCADE GAME. FOR SOMEONE WHO CONSTANTLY RANTS ABOUT NOT HAVING TIME, HE HAS QUITE A NUMBER OF NOTES ON VIDEO GAMES…) Taichi was amazed as Zero recovered in the air. 'Man!! This is better than all the martial arts movies and pay-per-view fights combined!!'

 "I wonder…are you involved in this whole conspiracy or is your judgment just clouded? How can you side with those who fight to deliver evil into the world?" Zero prepared to charge again when he heard a shout come from somewhere else. "Lightning Spear!!" He had to roll over to the side to dodge the attack. 'Another one to fight...I may need Taichi's help in this one after all.' Before he could mentally communicate with his partner, the other Digimon that came out of nowhere started speaking to him.

"You bulwy!! Leave Takato alone!! Just because he's angwy all the time doesn't mean he's evil!!" Gallantmon gave a loud groan at Kerpymon's statement. "Suzie, for the last time…I'm not angry!!! And what are you doing here?!? I thought I told you to stay back where it would be safe!!!" Kerpymon just pointed a small finger at the virus holy knight. "See what I mean?" Gallantmon gave a frustrated growl.

Zero had used this time to retrieve his sword. "If you are a part of this conspiracy, then I must destroy you as well." Gallantmon was disgusted, for lack of a better word. "You would stoop so low as to attack a child?!?" The look on Taichi's face was mirrored by Zero. "How can a little kid be that mega Digimon?!?!?"

"Because that little kid merged with her Digimon partner to become this powerful Digimon before you. She's a Digimon tamer…just like me and just like him." Gallantmon pointed at the fallen Umegagargomon, who had started to glow. Zero shook his head. "I might have bought that story if Taichi wasn't my tamer!!"

"Zero!!" The vaccine Digimon looked behind him to see the glowing Umegagargomon as well. 'Not much time…who knows what can happen!!' He brought his sword and his other arm together to form a cannon. Kerpymon and Gallantmon stiffened when Zero started powering up. "Hyper…" Then he turned around and aimed at Umegagargomon. "…Prominence!!!"

Gallantmon shot forward but Zero had already unleashed the blast. He then quickly teleported in front of his friend and took the blast full force. "AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!" As the virus holy knight was blown away, Zero and Taichi saw the glowing Umegagargomon split apart into a human and a small rabbit Digimon. "T-they were telling the truth…my God, what have I done?!?"

While Kerpymon rushed to help her brother along with Taichi, Zero picked up the fallen Gallantmon. "Come on!! Say something!! Anything!!!" A dizzy look came to the virus holy knight. "Uh…did someone get the number of that truck that hit me?" Later, the dizzy feeling was replaced by one of curiosity as Zero bowed his head. "There is no excuse for what I have tried to do. I am at your mercy."

"I have no idea what you just said but next time, can't we just talk about everything instead of fighting? Man…you were more intense than Shadowgallantmon!!" Zero's sadness went away momentarily as he beamed. "I don't know of this Shadowgallantmon character but thank you!! I must say that you're a worthy warrior yourself!!"

"The both of you were awesome!! It was just like a kick butt movie but ten times better!!" exclaimed Taichi as Zero helped Gallantmon stand up. "I think I'm going to have to lie down for a bit." Zero winced as he moved too. "The feeling is mutual. If we were able to deal injuries like that to each other, then that means our strength is roughly equal."

Taichi took a scan. "Nope!! Zero is a bit stronger!! Gallantmon has only 32% of his armour left while Zero has only 37% left!!" crowed the boy. Both holy knight Digimon just stared at him. The boy gave a small blush of embarrassment. "Okay, okay…I'll shut up now." Zero looked at Gallantmon. "So the tamer and the Digimon fight as one? That must be a fascinating experience."

"Fascinating and painful." Both Digimon laughed at that remark but that was shortened when Kerpymon came up with Terriermon and Henry in her arms. Both the human and the Digimon slowly woke up. "So did we miss anything?" asked Terriermon. "Not really. Just a battle between me and him, that's all," replied Gallantmon. He looked at both holy knight Digimon and snapped his fingers. "Damn!! I missed the fight of the century!!" 

A beeping came from Henry's D Terminal. He opened it and quickly read the message. "We've got to get going. Our friends are in trouble!!" Zero opened his hand so that his tamer can hop on. "We're coming too!! We made some bad mistakes and we want to make up for them!!" Gallantmon gave a nod of approval before the entire group took off to assist the others.

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"Boo!!!" Both ultimate Digimon were upset at the fact that neither holy knight had won the battle. "That was so lame!! I want a rematch!!" Skullsatamon was not happy at all. He had wanted to see what would happen if Marinedevimon had tried to consistently hit on Ladydevimon. That would have been funny.

"I guess that means nobody has to hit on Ladydevimon," stated Marinedevimon. Daemon smirked underneath his hood. "On the contrary, the wager was that whoever doesn't win the bet has to continuously hit on Ladydevimon for a month. I would suggest the two of you practice your pick up lines." He left the chamber to make some preparations. Moments later, he heard an unholy shriek of rage as Ladydevimon had started attacking Skullsatamon and Marinedevimon after they had both tried to use a pick up line.

Rika: That's it?!?!?

Death: EPSILON IS STILL RECOVERING THANKS TO YOU. DOCTOR JOE HAS ADVISED HIM TO TAKE IT EASY AND NOT TO WRITE SO MUCH.

Ryo: Nice going, pumpkin.

(Rika tackles Ryo and starts pummeling him)

Death: I'M GOING TO VISIT EPSILON IN THE HOSPITAL. IF YOU WISH TO COME ALONG, THEN GET READY.

Taichi: Wait up!!

[Scene change: hospital]

Takato: Hey!! What are you guys doing here? 

(Frontier kids and Zack were inside Epsilon's room. Epsilon is asleep on the bed)

Joe: Keep it down!! He's trying to rest!

Takato: Sorry.

Zack: We're just checking up on him. 

(Then a small black rabbit Digimon walks in)

?: Well…looks like I don't get Epsilon's collection of chunky Pocky.

(Sweatdrops all around. Yolei notices a tiny notebook beside Epsilon)

Yolei: What's this? Epsilon's book of random thoughts?

Death: YES. THAT'S WHERE HE RECORDS RANDOM THOUGHTS THAT COULD TURN INTO FANFIC IDEAS.

(Zoe snatches book)

Zoe: Let's see here…the goggle boys sing "What Makes You Different Makes You Beautiful" to their respective girlfriends.

?: Sounds like something that DC would definitely do.

Takuya: Sing a Backstreet Boys song? Hmmmmm…

Zoe: Then there are the girlfriends of the goggle boys recreating… "Lady Marmalade"?!?

?: DC's gonna love this one!! Yoink!!

(The small black rabbit rips the page out and runs out)

Rika: No way am I wearing that skimpy outfit!! Renamon!!

(Terriermon leaps on top of the fox and covers her eyes)

Terriermon: Make a run for it!! 

(Black rabbit manages to run off back into the internet and back to DC's computer)

Rika: You…!

(She starts to strangle Terriermon)

JP: Anything with me and Zoe getting together?

Koji: Doubt it.

Zoe: Here's something else…a sequel to "Other Voices" if the novel gets finished.

Zack: Which may never be thanks to her.

(Frontier kids glare at Rika)

Zoe: It's called "Other Visits" and we all go dimension hopping to find Zack's friends. Wow!! Epsilon even wrote in a little scene!!

Davis: Let's see what he put in!

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Rika stared at the girl who was in front of them. "Are you sure she's a Digimon? Maybe you're just messed up or something today." The blonde girl looked at the fox Digimon before asking. "I don't suppose you know a guy named Zack?" 

"I've trusted my instincts my entire life. They've never let me down. And right now, my instincts are telling me that she is a Digimon! She has that certain scent!! Trust me on this one, Rika." The Digimon Queen gave a nod. "I guess so…hey, maybe her data can make you shape shift into a human. Then I'll have someone worth talking to!!" She took out a card. "Digi Modify! Power Activate!!"

Zoe gasped as Renamon leapt into the air and started to power up her attack. "Diamond Storm!!" She tried to move but her body wouldn't listen. "Zoe!!" She felt someone push her away hard. When she turned back, she saw Takuya getting hit with the attack. Time stopped as he fell to the ground and lay in a growing pool of his own blood. Rika had a shocked look on her face. "My God…"

"TAKUYA!!!" Zack heard the girl scream and ran to the source. "Christ!!" He saw Zoe cradling Takuya. "Takuya!!! Wake up, Takuya!!!" 'Crap…she's getting hysterical.' Zack ran over to his two friends, not noticing the other girl and Renamon. "Zoe!! You have got to calm down!! Panicking will not help him!! We've got to get him to a hospital. I think I saw one a few blocks down there." Zoe just gripped harder on Takuya, trying to make sense of the madness that had just happened. Then she looked at Zack. "Where's the hospital again?!?"

He pointed a finger in a direction. Zoe then took out her Digivice. Rika stiffened. 'She's a tamer too?!?' Zack on the other hand started to panic. "You can't spirit evolve here!! You may attract some unwanted attention!! We are trying to keep a low profile here, remember?!?!?" 'Crap…she has that look in her eyes. And that means nothing is going to stop her…'

"Execute Spirit Evolution!!! Kazemon!!!"

'She just became a Digimon!!' Rika tried to scan her with her Digivice but no data came up. 'Stupid hunk of junk!!' Kazemon had a burning feeling in her heart. She just wanted to blast that bitch and her Digimon to the moon but she had to help Takuya first. The warrior of Wind gently picked up the boy and then scooped up Zack with her other arm. "You'll pay for what you did," stated the Digimon with a venomous tone. Then she flew off with Zack shouting about how this was definitely not a good idea.

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(Epsilon wakes up and snatches the book)

Epsilon: OUT!!!

Terriermon: No fair!! I wanted to see a cat fight between Zoe and Rika!!!

Epsilon: OUT!!! OUT!! OUT!!!

Death: LET US LEAVE NOW WHILE WE'RE STILL IN ONE PIECE.

(Everyone leaves the room while Epsilon collapses back on to the bed)

Epsilon: At least no details of Ascension got leaked out. Stupid BAM…


	15. Second Arc, Episode V

Death of Rat's Notes: SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK. SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!!

Disclaimer: Epsilon does not own Digimon in any way whatsoever. Death and Death of Rats belong to Terry Pratchett and the Discworld…uh…world.

Ascension – V 2.5

"Let's go!!" Gallantmon and the others had already begun to take off, following Henry's directions on the D Terminal. Zero made sure Taichi was firmly secured near his head so that he can keep an eye on him. As he prepared to take off, he saw that his tamer was just lost in his thoughts. He couldn't blame him. They had nearly gone too far in this recent fight. 

In all their previous battles, they knew who the enemy was and they knew how to deal with the situation. Their system always worked backed in the digital world at home but here, it was much different. They can't rely on their old system anymore. The next time they would fight, they must find a different approach.

Zero was thankful that the others would allow him and his tamer to find a way to make up for their mistake, even though Gallantmon said that helping them assist their friends was enough. But that was not enough for the holy knight and his tamer. They would do everything in their power to rectify the situation and create a fresh start with these children and their Digimon. And they would start by helping the others save their friends.

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"Hold still, you insect!! Positron Laser!!!" Armageddemon leapt over Imperialdramon's blast but before he could fire an attack of his own, he was attacked by Sakuyamon, who appeared to be putting in a lot more effort into killing him. "Talisman Sphere!!" He took some damage but nothing that was too threatening. If it weren't for his enhancements given to him by the master, he would definitely be more worried.

Speaking of the master…the time of resurrection is drawing closer. As soon as that tower is fully operational, then the summoning can take place. But when Armageddemon checked on the status of the tower, he saw another Digimon, with a red scarf and mechanical arm, hacking at it. What disturbed him the most was the way the other Digimon was hacking at it. He knew exactly where to hit at certain times. Since the tower has special transdimensional properties, the only way it can be destroyed if it was hit in certain areas at precise time intervals. 

Whoever this Digimon was, he had to be taken out. At his current pace, the tower will come crashing down before it is fully charged for the task ahead. "Mega Flare!!" The other Digimon noticed this and dodged the attack. 'So much for him not noticing!!' Inside, Ryo could feel the anxiety radiating from his partner. But there was good reason to be this agitated. Especially when the dragon Digimon saw the tower for the first time. It was exactly what Monodramon had seen during the brief time when he and Millenniumon were joined. And even worse, he knew what it meant. 

"Who is that guy anyway? I don't think I've ever seen him before. Just where did he come from and why was he with Rika?" asked TK. Kari had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Maybe she went and got help or something." Cody raised an eyebrow. "Rika's not the type of person to do that."

Davis wasn't exactly happy with how the battle was going. "We should be coming up with some sort of plan in case we can't stop the fourth tower from being set up!! Instead, you guys are speculating about the identity of some new Digimon who's helping us!! We can guess all we want later after we're in the clear!!" Yolei's jaw just dropped. "That's probably the most rational thing Davis has said in his entire life!! And he used a big word!! Are you sick or something?" 

Armageddemon had started unleashing an all out assault upon Justimon. "Black Rain!!" As the numerous energy bolts came out of the air, Sakuyamon came out of nowhere and twirled her staff to deflect the energy bolts. "Thanks for the save!!" The shaman Digimon turned around to face him, while making sure that she was out of range for any further attacks. "I'm not planning to let you die…not until I thrash you at a game!"

Justimon can't believe that she saved him so that she can beat him in a Digimon game. "For crying out loud…you're still hung over the fact that I defeated you two years ago at the final round of the tournament?!? You haven't changed, have you?" Both mega Digimon moved to the side to get out of the way of a Mega Flare. "I can say the same to you. Two years later and you're still being a jerk!"

She was interrupted when Armageddemon leapt up to try another attack. He didn't get the opportunity as she saw a red blur kick the other Digimon away. Inside her blue sphere, Rika gave a small smile when she saw Gallantmon in front. "I have to admit it…you have impeccable timing, goggle head." The holy knight decided that now was not the time to ask what impeccable meant. "So what did happen at that light show anyway?"

"I'll tell you the story later. Right now, we have to delete Armageddemon and destroy that tower!" He didn't even notice the other Digimon behind Rika as he charged into the battle. Before Sakuyamon or Justimon could join him, they were stunned by an Imperialdramon in Paladin Mode flying by to attack Armageddemon. Justimon also noticed another human beside a pink Digimon with a rabbit Digimon on his head. "Where did all these guys come from?"

"I didn't realize that the tamers had connections to other Digimon like these…" Ken was lost in his thoughts when he heard several gasps from behind him. When he turned around, the other Digidestined were staring at a boy who resembled a younger Tai. "Alright, Zero!! Let's do this thing!!" While the boy started fishing around in his pocket for something, Kari approached him. "Tai?"

The boy had a confused look before realizing that they were referring to his counterpart. "I'm not who you think I am. It's a long story and…Hikari? Wow!! So this is how you turn out in a few years, huh? Instead of being a little squirt, you're now just a squirt!!" (DN: EPSILON IS ASSUMING THAT TAICHI HAS A LITTLE SISTER AT HOME) Then he gave a grin as he watched Kari's reaction. If she was anything like Hikari back home…

TK had a nervous look on his face. "Kari? Is there something wrong?" Kari Kamiya just grimaced at the memory of that nickname. "The only pet peeve that I had about Tai was his tendency to always call me a little squirt. He stopped calling me that a while ago and just when I start to forget, this guy pops out of nowhere, looking exactly like my brother, and starts calling me squirt!!" (DoRN: SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK.)

Armageddemon was starting to get worried with the number of Digimon who were intent on killing him. Although he was strong, he can only handle so many opponents. And by order of the master, he had to stay here until the procedure begins. He started to formulate a plan when he noticed that on the very bottom of the tower, a symbol that was engraved on the bottom had started glowing green. Yes…it has begun. 'Time to retreat.' "Black Rain!!" While his opponents moved to avoid getting hit by the attack, he concentrated on using the additional ability that his master had given him. Within moments, he had vanished.

When Justimon saw the bottom symbol of the tower glowing and moving upwards, a part of him panicked. Only Sakuyamon seemed to notice this as the others were too busy trying to figure out where Armageddemon went. "What's eating you?" Justimon snapped out of his thoughts to face the shaman Digimon. "The fact that this has something to do with Millenniumon. Is that a good enough answer?"

As soon as he mentioned Millenniumon, everyone's attention was diverted to him, except for Zero and Tai. "What do you mean this tower has something to do with Millenniumon?" asked Henry in a calm tone. "Does it really matter now? The process has already begun and there's no way to stop it," muttered Justimon.

Sakuyamon's frustration was apparent as she yelled at the other Digimon. "Just tell us what you know, Akiyama!! We'll try and do something while you can just wallow away in some corner of the digital world!!" This raised several reactions both from the Digidestined and the other tamers. While Ken was wondering if this really was his friend who had been able to escape from the Dark Ocean, the other tamers were just dumbfounded as how this Digimon could annoy Rika Nonaka to the ends of the earth.

Justimon hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Fine but you're not going to like what I have to say. You already know that one of these exists in three other digital worlds other than this one, right? Once towers are placed in all four digital worlds in this plane at precise locations in each digital world, they all shoot out an energy beam from their tips after they have charged up enough energy. When all four energy beams collide, reality as we know it is sent into a flux and can be manipulated."

He paused momentarily. "Lunarmillenniumon has spent a great deal of energy in constructing the algorithms to create these towers. He intends to use them to create a new body for himself. He knew that there was a much higher level of consciousness for himself and the evidence can be obtained through the Dark Spores. That's why he took the spore from Ken in the first place. He plans to ascend to his final form by using the Dark Spore and the energy that the towers provide."

While the others were trying to absorb this information, Sakuyamon fired another question. "And just how do you know all this? There's no way that Millenniumon would tell you out of the blue. What else are you hiding?" (ZN: Assume that the Ryo series in the tamers' universe did not mention Monodramon DNA digivolving with Millenniumon) Inside his sphere, Ryo wasn't sure whether to tell the truth. "Nothing. Monodramon was the one who knew all this. Why don't you ask him?" Somewhere, he heard Monodramon snort. "Sure…shift the interrogation onto me!!"

"Hey, look!!" The others turned to where Taichi was pointing at. The tip of the tower was now glowing a neon green. Gallantmon started to fly up when a green beam shot out of the tower and into the sky. (GN: If you want to get a feel for it, just remember when the tower in the Beast Wars two-part episode "The Trigger" shot out its powerful beam) 'I have to do something!!' The holy knight started following the beam into the sky at maximum speed.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

There it was again. That strange sensation that washed over him when he felt a faint but powerful presence. ArcaDemon stopped walking to try and focus on that sensation. "What's wrong?" asked Neo in a flat tone. The Digimon turned around and for a brief moment saw someone with a divine appearance. "Who are you?" Neo had a puzzled look on his face as there was nobody there. Or so he thought.

The female was startled but she did not let it show upon her face. 'So it appears that he can sense me. It is best to retreat and let the tamers deal with this. I have already interfered too much…' She then blinked as she felt the energy emanating from all four towers. 'So he is trying to return. This is troubling…not only do we have two Digimon with god-like powers but there is a third who can reach that stage as well if he taps into his full potential.'

ArcaDemon watched as the woman vanished from his sight. Who and what was she? One thing is for sure…she's no Digimon. "What did you see anyway?" ArcaDemon looked at his tamer. "I'm not certain. I believed that I saw some sort of powerful being but…" Neo shrugged. "Whatever. If we see this being, we'll take it out." The Digimon was not so sure that he could compare with her power.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Is he nuts?!? What is he trying to accomplish?" Justimon wasn't sure what the red knight's intentions were but when he noticed Sakuyamon preparing to go after him, he tried to restrain her. "Don't go and throw your life away too!! We need to focus our energy on figuring out how to get Millenniumon to revert to a less threatening form before confronting him!!" The tamer didn't realize that he had signed his own death warrant but at the moment, he wasn't concerned.

"Are you saying that Takato could die out there?!? Then I gotta make sure that he's still alive so that I can pound him later for doing something this stupid!!" She thrashed against the other Digimon but Ryo held his grip. "That beam of energy is going to collide with three others and create a form of space that is lethal to your friend!! I'm not going to let you do something rash!"

He then noticed Sakuyamon bending her head forward. The next thing he knew, she swung her head back and collided with the front section of his own head. Then she turned around and punched him in the stomach. "Butt out, Ryo!!" While Justimon tried to catch his own breath, Henry and Terriermon ran up to them. "I don't think you can catch up now. That beam's moving way too fast."

She looked up and to her dismay, her friend was right. As Justimon started to feel better from the blow, he heard her whisper. "Don't die on me now, goggle head." He started thinking. 'By the way she said that, it was almost…affectionate…' His thoughts were interrupted by Terriermon, who opened his big mouth. "Don't worry about your boyfriend!! He's still got to live through the honeymoon with the wild sex and all-" "Shut up, rabbit!!" snapped the shaman Digimon.

"Whoa!! You and that red guy are…well, I have to admit it. You're the last person I would expect to have a romantic interest-" He was cut off by another punch to the stomach by Sakuyamon. "Stay out of my love life, Ryo." She said each word slowly and with an icy tone to make sure that the other boy got the message.

Zero started groaning. Taichi had a concerned look on his face. "Zero!! What's wrong with you?" The holy knight started glowing and moments later, a weak looking Demiveemon was in its place. "So…hungry…" Taichi gently picked up his partner. "Yeah…we should get going and find Gennai so we can chow down!!"

"Please don't say that…I don't want to hear anything about food for a while," moaned Shakkoumon. TK and Cody had simultaneous sweatdrops as they remembered how much their partners ate. Davis and Ken were astonished that Demiveemon could digivolve to Imperialdramon Paladin Mode on his own. "Whoa…just how strong is your Digimon?!? To be able to become Imperialdramon Paladin Mode by himself is unbelievable!!" exclaimed the former Digimon Emperor.

Kari and Yolei voiced their agreement as well as TK and Cody. Taichi gave a grin. "Well, I found this guy in my tournament Digivice and met him face to face after getting transported to the digital world. He was already at champion level when we met." Meanwhile, the Veemon inside the DNA digivolved Imperialdramon wasn't too happy that his counterpart didn't need a DNA partner to digivolve to mega. Davis looked closer at Demiveemon. "Hey…now I think I know why that creepy Neo wanted to kill me!"

Taichi froze. "Did you say Neo? How did he get out?!? Maybe that portal in Daemon's lair transported him to your world or something!!" Ken crossed his arms. "I don't think so. We encountered Neo in the world where the other tamers live. And he had a DNA digivolved Skullsatamon who could digivolve to Daemon!!" 

This worried Taichi even more. 'The last time we saw him, he got Skullsatamon to digivolve to Ghoulmon. He found someway to power up his Digimon but how?!?' "Tell me everything you remember from your encounter. Now that he's out and loose in the digital world, there's going to be trouble."

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'What have I gotten myself into?' Gallantmon could barely see the point of the beam. First it show up past the stars…and now, it was somewhere else in a place that the holy knight could not recognize. 'I can figure out how to get back later but I can't let Millenniumon ascend to his final form!! Whatever that may be…' He focused on his Goliath Knight piece and teleported to the front of the beam. 

With a loud yell, he fired his own beam of energy to try and slow down the other beam but it didn't seem to have an effect. 'Come on…Guilmon!! Grani!! We have to put everything we've got to stop this thing!!' Takato then felt an increased effort from both his friends. With the increased effort, the beam from the tower had been slowed down. 'Yes!!' But the victory did not last long as three other beams came out of nowhere and struck the holy knight and with his concentration down, the fourth beam pushed forward and collided into him as well. Had anyone been in the vicinity, they would have heard the holy knight's scream of agony.

Death of Rats: SQUEAK.

Death: QUIET, YOU. AT LEAST HE WAS ABLE TO WRITE THIS MUCH.

Zack: Yeah. I would have thought that he would only stop at around 2500 words like the last time.

Galacticmon: Indeed.

(They all turn to see a tired but somewhat more healed Epsilon exiting the hospital)

Nurse: Watch your step, dear.

Epsilon: Ow…ow…ow…each step I take gives me a minor headache. Stupid Bad Ass Mallet. 

Galacticmon: So any clue on the mystery woman?

Epsilon: Don't worry. I'll give out a few more hints in the next chapter. (hears arguing) What the hell is that?

Zack (sighs): Zoë and Rika are arguing about stuff…who has the hunkier boyfriend, who can kick more ass in Digimon form, who is more beautiful…

Galacticmon: Nothing to worry about. 

Epsilon: Well, the real madness should be coming soon in a few chapters so stay tuned!! You do not want to miss this!!!


	16. Second Arc, Episode VI

Author's Notes: I would like to take this moment to thank my friends for helping me out for the past while: Death, Death of Rats, Zack and Galacticmon. It's great to be back in this seat again and I'll have some comments concerning the mystery woman from the previous chapter. Now on to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 2.6

'Will the tamer truly be able to harness the power that his partner carries within? This is most distressing.' The female entity had just returned to her watch post. She had not been expecting ArcaDemon to sense her so quickly but apparently, his strength is getting stronger along with his senses, thanks to his tamer.

As she was pondering about how to resolve this situation, she noticed a drifting red shape with wings on its back. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a holy knight, fading in and out. Behind him, his shadow kept shifting shapes by itself. She wasn't sure what it meant but she noticed that one of the shapes appeared to be a monster with large jaws and wings. The entity placed a hand on the knight's forehead and felt what was happening. 

'It was because of this knight that prevented Millenniumon from manipulating reality to create a new form for himself. But because of how the four beams collided with him all at once, he will have to face the troubles that have weighed on his mind and heart that have plagued him during his life.' The woman took her hand off the knight. "I wish I can help your son, Mrs. Matsuki. But this time, he's on his own."

"Guilmon!! Grani!!" That was Takato's first concern when he woke up. He wasn't in the familiar void when he had bio-merged with his Digimon. This was a different void and it disturbed him. "You won't find them here." Takato froze when he heard his own voice. He looked behind him to see himself. 

"Wait. Are you the dark version of myself of something? Or some other aspect of my essence?" The other Takato Matsuki shook his head. "I'm the self which is in your mind. You see, there is a Takato Matsuki in the minds of the people who know you. Each of them differs from one another because of people's different opinions. So the Takato Matsuki inside Henry's mind would be different from the Takato Matsuki in Tai's mind." "Why are you here?" asked Takato. 

"I didn't voluntarily come here. You summoned me. Your heart is troubled and is questioning some of the decisions you took in life to get to where you are right now. You're questioning why you had to become a hero at an age when you should be carefree. You're questioning why the others had to give up their carefree lives to take this burden. You're wondering where can you and your friends find happiness."

"Hey! I'm not that troubled about being a tamer and coming this far!! It's made me who I am!" His double just smiled. "Yes, that is true. You didn't mind going this far but you are concerned about whether your friends had the same intentions when they became tamers."

"I guess you have a point. I just want my friends to be happy. I don't want them to make any great sacrifices to save the world or anything. Just where can I find this happiness for myself as well as the others?" As soon as he asked that question, a wave of dizziness hit him and he blacked out.

Moments later, he heard a click and light started flooding his eyes. He groaned as he got up…in his own room. His father was standing by the doorway. "I can't have you sleeping all day, you know. Get up!" Takato rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he got out of his pajamas and into his usual attire, minus the goggles. But he didn't really notice the fact that he had no goggles. He also didn't notice the fact that his room had no Digimon merchandise at all. 

While he went downstairs, he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that something was missing. 'I better get some fresh air. Maybe it'll help me figure this out.' He noticed his mother making a small prayer to a statue of a woman wearing an orange kimono with certain symbols on it. "Mom, I'm going out!" The boy left before his mother could ask him whether he had done his homework.

As he walked to the park, he kept thinking about what was missing. All he could come up with was the word 'Digimon'. His thoughts were interrupted when someone gave him a huge slap on the back. "Hey, chumley!! How's it going?" He turned to see Kazu and Kenta with big grins. "The others are waiting for us in the park! Let's go!"

When he arrived, he saw Henry and Jeri chatting by a tree while Rika was talking on her cell phone. He almost stiffened when he heard her say good bye to her father on the phone. Kazu had a sly look on his face. "Looks like you have it bad for the Ice Queen." Moments later, the girl was pummeling him as she had heard that comment. Jeri and Henry had to pry her off of Kazu. "How about we head to the mall and help find something for Jeri's mom? It's her birthday, you know!" Rika just grumbled but she agreed to it. The others had started to leave but Takato tapped Rika's shoulder.

"Hey…have you ever heard of something called Digimon?" The girl gave him a strange look. "Are you alright? You're acting even stranger than usual. I don't know what you're talking about so let's just go." She walked away before he could ask her any more questions. He backed up in surprise when the world vanished and was replaced with a black environment with fog covering the ground.

Slowly, the consciousness of the Takato Matsuki that we're familiar with, returned with the experience and memory of what had just happened in the other world. "What was that place?!?" He froze when he saw a shift in the shadows in front of him. "Don't ask me. You were the one who made it." Renamon stepped out in front of the startled boy.

"What do you mean I was the one who made it?!? Just give me a straight answer!!" The fox Digimon ignored the boy. "Ask yourself this: are you asking the correct question?" Takato felt weak at the knees. "All I want to know is what's going on!! Is that too much to ask? I just want a simple answer…" 

"Who do you think we are, your butlers?!? We can't serve the answers straight up! That's why we're talking to you in riddles so that you would be forced to look for the answers yourself," stated Terriermon as he appeared beside Renamon. Takato stepped back for a moment and bumped into a shape. "Can't I just give him a clue?" asked a familiar childish voice.

He turned around to see Guilmon but apparently, this Guilmon is not his real Digimon partner. After he had gotten the approval of Renamon and Terriermon, Guilmon looked at Takato right in the face. "Start by remembering what Justimon told you about those towers. That's a very good place to start." Takato thought back to about who knows how long ago when Justimon was explaining about the towers. His eyes widened as he came to a shocking conclusion. "Those four beams…once they collide together, reality can be manipulated. They collided with me…does that mean I can manipulate reality and create my own world? If so, why did I create that world without Digimon? "

Guilmon thought for a moment before talking. "You're part way there. Actually, your heart is the one who can manipulate reality. Your heart created that world so your friends could be happy." Takato had a shocked look on his face as Guilmon continued. "It created that world as a response to all the sadness and pain that your friends went through. Your heart cried when Jeri told you how her mother died when she was a little girl."

"Your heart was saddened when Rika told you about how she watched her father disappear from her life," stated Renamon. Then the vaccine Digimon spoke next. "Your heart was filled with sorrow when Henry had to comfort Suzie and explain why mommy and daddy couldn't tell her a bedtime story."

Takato clenched his fist. "If I wanted everyone to be really happy, why couldn't I give them both this happiness and the happiness that they would have gotten with their Digimon? And what about the Digidestined? Why couldn't my heart give them happiness?" Renamon crossed her arms. "In order to give your friends their loving families and carefree lives, all aspects of Digimon had to be erased, including the existence of the Digidestined. The Digimon factor can give your friends a new happiness but along with it would come the pain that you had wanted them to avoid."

Terriermon spoke next. "The digital world has its share of bad Digimon and no matter what, you can't erase them all. Like TK said, where there's light, there's darkness as well." Takato closed his eyes. "This isn't right…I just want them to be happy but I can't go back to that false world of happiness. How can I give them all the happiness without the pain?"

"That's impossible. If you wish to obtain a greater happiness, you must endure the pain that comes along the path to your goal," stated Guilmon. "Besides, aren't you being a bit selfish, goggle head? What gives you the right to decide how we should be happy?" Takato opened his eyes and saw Rika beside Renamon. "How…?"

"Don't go asking how I got here. I'm just the Rika Nonaka in your mind. But if you did ask the real Rika, I think she wouldn't care about how much pain that has to be endured as long as she finds her happiness in all aspects. Everyone has to make their own decision on how to find their individual happiness." Takato's eyes widened.

"She's right, you know. We do appreciate your efforts to find a way to give us happiness without the pain but by going through tough times, it strengthens us as individuals as well as a group," stated Henry with a smile. Terriermon hopped on to the Chinese tamer's shoulder. "So what did I just go through? This is all so confusing."

Rika gently placed both her hands on Takato's cheeks. "Just tell me this, goggle head. Do you wish to avoid pain to find your happiness? And would the Rika Nonaka in your mind want you to give up on your quest to find that happiness?" "Would the Digidestined in your mind want you to give up on your quest to find happiness?" asked Kari. The whole group, consisting of new and old Digidestined children along with their Digimon stood behind Rika.

"Would the people and Digimon who care about you in your mind want you to give up on your quest to find happiness?" As Henry asked the question, various people and Digimon appeared, filling the void of darkness that had surrounded him previously. Their encouraging smiles installed a new confidence within Takato. "I think I already know the answer."

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"This is fascinating!!" That was probably the seven hundredth time that Shibumi has said that phrase but it is appropriate, considering what he has seen in the digital world. It was hard to believe that such a world can be constructed and that it was thanks to him that it existed. He kept floating around, like an apparition, talking to Digimon here and there. The Digi-Gnomes have also been helpful and made sure that he wouldn't be hurt.

He had been exploring the digital world for…who knows how long. He had lost track of time but one cannot blame him since this is a unique world that he had helped to create. A unique world with creatures and sights beyond the imagination. And he was looking at one right now. "What is this place?" 

The structure was nothing that he had ever seen before. "Strange. I wonder what type of Digimon lives in here." Shibumi floated across the long bridge to the front gate of the structure, which was open. He was shocked when he passed through the gate. In front of him was a large phoenix that appeared to be sick. 'Great. Another human to gawk at my weakness.'

"What happened to you? Good lord, you need help!!" Zhuqiaomon snorted. "Like there is anyone who could help. Get out of my sight, human." Shibumi didn't understand the nature of the phoenix's hostility but he could find out later once he helped him…somehow. "Maybe I can do something. I'm one of the programmers who helped to create the digital world. Perhaps I can find a way to get you better."

"The last thing I want is your help. Leave now." Shibumi didn't budge from his spot. "You can't force me to leave. I'm here whether you like it or not. If I can find a Digi-Gnome, then maybe it can help with whatever is bothering you." Finally, Zhuqiaomon snapped at the human. "What is bothering me is the fact that I'm slowly being deleted and that there's nothing anybody can do about it!!"  

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Takato woke up in a gentle mist that was surrounding everything. 'What in the…?' "Ah, you've awakened. I was beginning to worry that you would not make it back." He turned to the source of the feminine voice. Someone was concealed behind the mist and on both sides of this person were Guilmon and Grani. "Did you do something to them?!? Because if you did…"

"Relax. Your friends are safe…which is more than I can say for your essence." Takato froze. 'My essence? Did my soul get destroyed or something?' "Just tell me…am I dead? Did I make a difference in my life?" An amused chuckle came from the female. "You should be asking that question to Emma-o."

The boy had to think for a moment from what his mother told him about mythology but the woman saved him the trouble. "Emma-o is the god of death, judge of the dead and lord of the afterlife." Takato snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that's it!! Wait…if I'm not dead, then what am I doing here? Who are you? What do you mean by my essence getting messed? Did you put me through that little experience to make me…"

"I did nothing. Your troubles and worries were brought to the surface when the beams had collided with you. But I'm glad that you were able to resolve them. I should send you back now…there are still some loose ends that must be tied up." Takato slowly approached Guilmon and Grani, who appeared to be in a form of stasis. Finally, he saw her. 'I…I don't believe this…'

She had the same face as the statue. Her kimono was different but certain symbols were still there. "This is unreal. You're …" He remembered his mother constantly speaking about this particular deity. After all, this woman is a highly important figure in the Shinto religion and the most important deity in all of Japan. A name escaped his lips. "…Amaterasu." The sun goddess smiled and kissed the top of the boy's head. "Take care, little one." As soon as she said that, he felt himself being thrown back.

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"You think she's attractive in that armour? Wait until you check her out in her priest uniform. There is only one word to describe it…" Justimon would have frowned if he had a mouth. "I didn't say she was attractive, Terriermon. I said that she looked nice…and all that got me was a whap on the head with her staff. I don't think I'll ever understand her."

"Hey!! I think I see something!!" yelled Ken. Kari took out her camera and started to zoom in on the tiny figures that were in a freefall motion. "It's Takato! He's with Guilmon and Grani and they're going to get hurt unless we do something!!" Imperialdramon shot forward to help Grani.

"Akiyama, grab Guilmon!! I'll go for Takato!" Sakuyamon then flew off to catch the boy. Justimon moved as fast as he could to catch the tumbling dinosaur. Even though he was strong, he wasn't fully prepared for how much this particular rookie Digimon would weigh. "This guy's a rookie?!? You've got to be kidding me!!"

The shaman Digimon stretched out her arms so that Takato could land safely in them. He had some injuries but they could be healed in time. But his eyes…it looked like that he had quite a mental ordeal. "Are you alright?" Takato tried to speak but all he could come up with was a small "yes". Rika decided not to yell at him for going off like that…at least for now. "Just get some rest, goggle head." 

The boy lost consciousness a moment later. Sakuyamon gave a small smile. 'Thank goodness you're safe.' She leaned forward and gently kissed the boy's forehead. "I'm seeing it and I still can't believe it…" The shaman Digimon looked up to glare at Justimon. "You are walking on very…very thin ice, Akiyama." The android Digimon, who had slung Guilmon over his shoulder, gave a small sigh.   

Then he noticed that none of the signs of resurrection were showing throughout the digital world. He came to one conclusion…that Millenniumon would not be coming back. He looked at the child in the other Digimon's arms. "I never would have thought that he could actually stop the process. Talk about a miracle. He's truly a unique person," commented Ryo. Sakuyamon had to agree. "What did you expect? Holy knights do have a tendency to pull off miracles."

The group was preparing to regroup at Gennai's house, where not only can Taichi and Zero can finally have dinner, but where they could all swap stories about each other, their Digimon, their experiences and other things. As Justimon flew beside Sakuyamon, he asked her one question. "Since when did you start believing that miracles could happen?" The shaman Digimon looked at the sleeping boy in her arms. "Since he showed me that faith is necessary on the path to happiness."

That wraps up this chapter. I started thinking about this WAY back in November when my Humanities professor was talking about Japanese mythology and so I decided to put a little bit of that in here. NOTE: This is just how I see Amaterasu so don't start yelling at me saying that this isn't how she should be presented and so on. Besides, the producers of the anime use a bit of mythology from other places. Just look at Frontier. That's it for me!! I wish you and your loved ones a safe and Merry Christmas!! 


	17. Second Arc, Episode VII

Author's Notes: Nothing much to say as there weren't too many people who left a review for me in chapter 16 to base any notes upon. Well, for those of you who's still interested…enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 2.7 

"…huh?" Takato had started to awaken from his slumber when he heard a soft humming noise. What made him more alert was the fact that he was in an environment that he had never seen before. Guilmon was on the floor, still asleep. "Hey. You alright?" The boy noticed that Terriermon was sitting in a comfortable chair across from him with a stack of books around.

He also noticed that his left shoulder had a bit of weight on it. That weight turned out to be from Rika's head, who just happened to nod off and use his shoulder as a pillow. "Yeah. What happened?" The vaccine Digimon put down his book. "Basically we met back here at Gennai's house after we rescued you, Guilmon and Grani. You and Guilmon were pretty much knocked out for the night while Grani ran diagnostics with Gennai. While Taichi and his Digimon had dinner, we all swapped stories and learned about Ryo and Taichi."

"Okay…" From the way Takato said it, Terriermon concluded that the boy wanted him to fill him in. "Ryo's been wandering the digital world with his partner Monodramon after he accidentally arrived there. That accounts for him vanishing in the first place. Now…along the way, he was sent to the Eastern realm or the world of the Digidestined children to stop Millenniumon. And he did…by using both a program to split Millenniumon into Kimeramon and Machinedramon as well as having Monodramon DNA digivolving with Millenniumon to try and contain his consciousness. That's why he knew so much about the towers. He also said something about that is why Monodramon acts the way he does when he digivolves to Cyberdramon. He explained how he got out of the Dark Ocean and Ken was feeling happy."

He paused for a moment. "Now as for Taichi…this guy came from the Northern realm and he got sucked into the digital world when he found an abnormal Digimon that got him kicked out of a Digimon Virtual Tamer Tournament. He was summoned by a MagnaAngemon, who was the ruler of the continent of Folder, to defeat Daemon. It also turned out that there was another tamer as well named Neo and that was the guy who uploaded the data of innocent Digimon back in our digital world. Neo originally teamed up with Daemon so that he could raise a powerful Digimon named ArcaDemon but Daemon went back on the deal. Taichi killed ArcaDemon with the help of Zero, his partner, and Neo has been wanting vengeance ever since. After the big story swap, the Digidestined went home to get some sleep while we crashed here. They said that they'll come back after breakfast and that we'll go from there."

After gently pushing Rika off him, Takato got up from the couch and walked around to find the source of the humming. He noticed that Taichi, Zero, Henry, Suzie, Lopmon, Ryo and Monodramon were occupying the guest rooms along the way. He finally noticed a computer console which appeared to be analyzing his D-Ark. The boy quickly searched himself and noticed that the console was indeed scanning his Digivice. 

What was odd about his D-Ark was that the Chinese character for 'man' was repeatedly engraved on the larger red circle surrounding the screen. Takato remembered that he had represented that aspect when combining his power along with Henry and Rika to form the Triad Cyclone. He walked back to where Terriermon was sitting. "Do you know why my Digivice has those carvings?" The vaccine Digimon shrugged. "All we saw was a strange light coming from your pocket. When we fished out the Digivice, this was what we found. Gennai has been analyzing it, trying to find out what's going on."

A door slid open to the side to reveal Renamon, who had completed her morning exercises. She was slightly startled by the human and the other Digimon being awake at this hour but nonetheless, she gave a small 'good morning' to each of them before walking to another area of the house. At the same time, a yawning Henry Wong exited his room just as the fox went by. He noticed the other boy just standing there. "You feeling better?" Takato gave a nod and was about to speak when he heard more humming…this time, from a different area. Henry walked over to a door and opened it to reveal a staircase leading to a lower level. "I guess Gennai is still working with Grani on those diagnostics."

"I'm going to check up on them." Henry stepped aside as his fellow tamer walked through the door and down the stairs. Then he noticed a stack of books surrounding a comfortable chair which his partner was currently inhabiting. Terriermon gave a pleasant smile. "Good morning! I was a bit restless so I took out some books from Gennai's library to keep myself occupied." The tamer raised an eyebrow. 

"Relax!! It's just ancient mythology and history about China and Japan. It's kind of interesting how much sex was involved in the life of a Chinese Emperor. He has the Empress and a large number of concubines which form his Harem. But he actually does deserve all that sex, considering how hard he has to work otherwise." Henry just started to grumble under his breath. "Is sex the only reason why you got so interested in all this history and legend?"

Terriermon put on a shocked look. "What type of a Digimon do you think I am? You humans have such a diverse and fascinating history and I just wanted to see it! Anyways, Japan was pretty cool as well with Bushido and the code of the samurai. And their bonds of loyalty to each other and their commanding officers were damn strong so it's no surprise that gay relationships between samurai started popping up. Maybe that's why there are so many gay Digimon fanfics on the net. The fans saw the children as samurai and envisioned the bonds of loyalty." Henry crossed his arms. "Terriermon…I don't think that authors who decide to write gay love stories think about the children as samurai. You're putting way too much thought into this."

"Hello? Anyone down there?" Takato walked down to the workshop and saw Grani on a large platform with some equipment surrounding him. "Yup…just me and your friend here." Gennai popped out of a room with some parts in his hand. After placing the parts down, he shook hands with the young tamer. "I've heard a lot of stories about you. It's nice to finally meet." The only thought in Takato's mind was 'Wow!! I'm meeting the real Gennai!! This is mega cool!!' He focused himself so that he could give a reply. "It's an honour to meet you, sir. How's Grani?"

The machine started to make some beeping noises. Gennai gave a light smile. "He says that other than feeling like a laboratory specimen, he's fine and dandy." The boy blinked in surprise. "You can understand what he's saying? Wow…" The other man got back to work until he heard some commotion upstairs. "The others must be up. Let's go upstairs and I'll make some breakfast."

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"Just who is this dude anyway?!? I can't pull up any stats!!" yelled Kazu as he prepared to slash another card. For several weeks, the new group of tamers had to defend the world against enemy Digimon as well as unknown forces who may invade their world. The latest force that they have to contend with is someone who desperately needed to learn how to speak properly. "Quagmire Twister!!"

Alice gave a gasp. "Everyone scatter!!" The Digimon all moved out of the way of the small, brown tornado. Slowly, the tornado settled down to reveal some sort of brown Digimon that the tamers could not identify. Grapleomon and Ceberusmon pulled themselves together and attacked at the same time. But the enemy Digimon just sent them both flying with a few punches. "Oh no!!" cried Jeri. 

"Digi Modify!! Power Activate!!" Andromon quickly fired his missiles but when they exploded, the brown Digimon was still there. "Me no like that…Execute Slide Evolution!! Grumblemon!!" Andromon had no time to figure out what had happened when the other Digimon pulled out a huge hammer and swung it at him. Moments later, the ultimate Digimon was sent flying back. 

"Pu!!!" Grumblemon barely ducked underneath MarineAngemon's bubble. Kenta tried to take out his D-Ark but he felt the ground shake beneath him as the other Digimon slammed his hammer onto the ground. MarineAngemon focused and shot out another bubble, this time ensnaring the mysterious Digimon. He tried to pop the bubble but was having no luck. "Execute…" He never got the chance to switch to his other form as the bubble went through a random tear in reality. Kazu collapsed on the ground. "All these tears in reality…can't someone just sew all of them up together?!?"

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"You did…WHAT?!?!" Terriermon silently mumbled about how having large ears has its disadvantages. Ryo cringed as Rika flew across the table and started shaking Takato. "Well, at least that explains how the rebirth was aborted." "Have you lost your mind?!? What the hell were you thinking when you pulled that stunt of yours?!?!" yelled the Digimon Queen.  "Rika…language," warned Henry.

"I d-didn't mean t-to p-p-pull off a-any stunt, R-Rika." He silently pleaded to Guilmon for help but the viral dino was munching on his toasted peanut butter sandwich. Suzie had a small grin on her face. "She's angwy…he's angwy…they are made for each other!" Lopmon gave a small sigh. "The perfect couple, huh?"

Ryo gave a puzzled look. "I've never seen Takato get angry before. He seems like a calm guy who cares about everything." Suzie just kept grinning. "Oh, don't worwy. He does get angwy. Twust me." During the whole commotion, the group didn't notice that Gennai had invited the Digidestined inside. They all just blinked at the scene before them. "A typical Digimon tamers breakfast, no doubt," murmured Hawkmon.

Taichi and Zero greeted them as they exited their rooms, yawning. Zero was still in his rookie form since he didn't want to take up too much space. Since he was feeling much better, he planned to digivolve once they got out of the house. Gennai went back downstairs to run a few more tests with Grani while Takato repeated the first part of his story to Taichi and the Digidestined children. "So that's why your Digivice became like that? Because all four beams hit you at once?" asked Taichi. 

"I'm not sure. I want to make sure that Guilmon, Grani and myself are one hundred percent healthy but I can rule myself out of that category. After getting hit, I went through some weird psychological episode about determining where my own happiness along with the happiness of others lies. Then I woke up and was told that there was something wrong with my essence. I never got to find out what exactly was wrong because Amaterasu just shot me back to the digital world." Rika just blinked in shock. "Hold it, goggle head…did you just say Amaterasu? As in the sun goddess Amaterasu? How is that possible?"

"I thought you would have known by now, Rika. When you are a Digimon tamer, the most unimaginable things can become reality. I'm certain that stranger things have happened other than meeting the most powerful deity in Shinto religion," stated Ryo. He stood up. "In any case, I'm ready to get going." "To where?" asked Ken.

"First, we have to keep an eye out for Armageddemon because he got away last time. I also think we should take out Millenniumon's tower…for insurance purposes. Monodramon can tell you where to hit, how hard to hit it and when to hit it." Taichi got up as well. "I have to find Neo to make sure he doesn't hurt anymore Digimon."

Gennai came back upstairs with a grave look on his face. "Then you should start searching here. I just got some reports of a human with a Digimon who was uploading the data of powerful Digimon." Taichi clenched his fist. "Was there a Daemon with him?" The man shook his head. "Nobody could identify the other Digimon with him. All we know is that its strength range could be from ultimate to mega."

Zero snorted. "Neo may have acquired a new and stronger Digimon but there's no way he can beat…" He nodded at Taichi. Then the Veemon and his tamer struck a pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION!!!!" Everyone gave a simultaneous sigh except for Davis and his Veemon, who were applauding at Taichi's pose. 

Takato felt a sense of familiarity tingling in the back of his head. "Wait…now I think I remember where you two came from!! You two were the main characters of a comic book that was supposed to come out a month ago! The promotional material had been circulating around just before I became a tamer…I was planning on buying the first issue but with real Digimon attacking the city, I guess the project was yanked." Taichi and Zero had shocked looks on their faces. "We were going to be comic book characters? Cool!!"

"That's an interesting way of reacting to the fact that they were fictional characters in another world," mumbled Gatomon. Takato began to speak. "Alright…Taichi can go after Neo while the rest of us can knock down the remaining tower. We won't know how to track Armageddemon down so we'll let him come to us."

"Time out, goggle head. You're staying here." The boy started to protest when Rika spoke again. "We don't know what exactly is wrong with your essence so it's not safe for you to bio-merge. And we don't know exactly what's up with your new Digivice and what effects it could have on dino boy over there. So until Gennai gives you a clean bill of health and finishes his scans of your Digivice, you're relieved of your tamer duties."

Takato sighed as he sat back on his chair. Gennai took this opportunity to deliver his other news. "Another thing…Azulongmon wants to meet with Suzie and Lopmon. He said that he would explain everything once you two met him. So I'll be escorting the two of you to his domain. I've finished scanning Grani and he seems to be fine so he can accompany your group." He made a gesture to Ryo as he finished the last sentence. "A quick warning…Azulongmon informed me that the temporal difference between this world and yours has shifted again. This time, about a month passes in the tamers' realm while a day passes here." Henry silently cursed Lunarmillenniumon for unleashing the final temporal incursion when he was killed.

"If Takato is going to be staying here alone, then I should stay here too! Even though Neo is out there, it would be best for me to make sure that nothing happens to Takato," said Taichi with a firm look. This angered the other boy slightly. "I can take care of myself. Just go and find Neo before he damages the digital world. I'll be fine here." His attempt to hide his bitterness was apparent.

Monodramon looked at Takato with a sympathetic look. "I really wish I could spare someone to stick around with you but I'm not sure how many Digimon we'll need to take down the tower as soon as possible." While the Digidestined filed out of the house along with Ryo, Henry, Gennai and Suzie and their partners, Rika looked at Takato one last time. "You always said that we have to keep some faith and optimism in our lives. It would be a good idea to take your own advice." Then, while nobody else was around except for the two humans and Guilmon, she gave him a quick kiss. "We'll be back as soon as we can and figure out this problem, alright?"

The boy gave a small smile. "Alright…" Rika smiled herself before pressing the control to activate the staircase to the surface and leaving the house. Guilmon was just sitting there, bored out of his mind. "I'm bored, Takatomon. Let's play!!" "In a minute, Guilmon." Takato made his way to where his Digivice was being scanned. He read some of the data that was being displayed on the computer screen.

DIGIMON ANALYZER: NORMAL

DIGIMON CARD DATA CONVERSION PROGRAM: NORMAL

DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: NORMAL

MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: NORMAL

SCANNING BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAMS…

Takato sighed as the computer kept working. His Digivice seemed to be normal. Guilmon seemed to be as hyper as ever. So the problem was him. 'What's wrong with me? Looks like I'm going to have to look for answers…' Then something dawned upon him. 'It said programs…there's more than one way to bio-merge?' His thoughts were interrupted when the computer revealed that the scan was complete.

ALPHA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: DISABLED

GAMMA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: DISABLED

QUANTUM BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: NORMAL

OMEGA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: DISABLED

ZETA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM: DISABLED

ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR ALPHA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM…

ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR GAMMA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM…

ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR OMEGA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM…

ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR ZETA BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION PROGRAM…

'What is this?!?' He then heard Guilmon growling from the other room. "What is it, boy?" The virus Digimon didn't stop growling. "Something bad…really bad…" Takato hesitated on whether to check it out or not. 'Alright…I'll just go outside and look for something that may be threatening. If not, then I'll get back in…' He took his Digivice and pressed the control that Rika had used earlier to get outside.

Even though it was a sunny day, Takato felt a sense of dread approaching him. That sense was justified as a large shadow blocked out the sunlight. He looked behind him to see Armageddemon. A chuckle came from the other Digimon. "Talk about a lousy way to start your day." (AN: Hey, that rhymes!! ^_^) The boy started to sweat nervously. 'Looks like I'm going to find out about one of these bio-merge programs after all…' "Quantum Bio-Merge Activate!!"

QUANTUM BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION…

Sorry but it has to stop here for now. If I gave you even a teaser then the surprise would be ruined!! Anyways…a few things to say. First, a quick thanks to God for protecting some good friends of mine from dangerous situations. DC for the car crash and Dexter for the crazy ass stunt he pulled while skiing. Second, I've been using more stuff from Humanities: Ancient Asian Civilizations because it's a pretty cool course. Third, please drop off a review so I can strive towards being a better writer! Thank you and have a happy new year!!


	18. Second Arc, Episode VIII

Author's Notes: I only included one Frontier Digimon at random so that doesn't mean the chosen kids may pop in and say hi. Now that I've gotten that down, let's get to the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 2.8

Takato didn't understand what had happened except for the key fact that his entire world seemed to shatter around him. As soon as the Digivice initiated the program, a powerful light erupted from both tamer and Digimon. This worried Armageddemon but he concentrated on his task and attacked nonetheless. "Mega Flare!!" The attack never reached its destination as it had been deflected by…something. He couldn't tell what it was because it was so bright.

A fog had begun to form around the area. Armageddemon didn't understand why or what the significance of the fog was except it meant that a new Digimon had arrived…at least in the Southern realm. A digital field…but they were all in the digital world. How is this possible? 'I may have to ask the master about this one.'

The pain was overwhelming…so much that a normal human being should have been sent to unconsciousness after about thirty seconds. Of course, Takato was not exactly a normal human being. However, he does have his limits. The longer he stayed awake, the more he felt that invisible forces were pulling at him from all sides, as if taking out pieces of him for their own purposes. He didn't know how much time has elapsed since he activated the program.

Then everything just stopped. The pain, the agony, the sensation of his consciousness being shattered…gone. 'Man…that was just totally weird!!' He looked at himself and saw a pair of armoured white hands. 'I turned into Gallantmon…okay.' When he got up, he was feeling quite disoriented and drained.

"G-Guilmon? Are you there, boy?" He waited for a response from his partner but got nothing. The holy knight couldn't see anything through the fog but he could hear noises of a battle not too far away. He would have rushed to check out what was going on but he was still feeling weak. 'Okay…rest first. I have to wait and get some strength back before I can go and fight.'

Gallantmon gave a small groan. "That's definitely an experience I wouldn't like to go through again." "Very well." The holy knight froze at that voice. Before he could try and figure it out, he felt a sharp tip at the very back of his neck. "When I'm through with you, you won't ever have to go through any of life's more unpleasant moments…ever."

'Oh God no…please don't tell me…' "Shadowgallantmon?" asked the holy knight in a weak voice. An amused chuckle came from behind. "Bravo!! And on your very first guess too!! I guess that deserves some reward. Tell ya what…I'll even let you turn around and watch as I pierce my lance right through your heart!!" 

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"Are we there yet?" asked the little girl for…who knows how many times she asked. Gennai and Lopmon had lost count after forty. The man had to remember that Suzie was a little girl and that little children are somewhat impatient. "No, Suzie. Just a bit farther." She gave a shrug before trudging on behind her partner.

The trio had been walking for some time now to get to Azulongmon's domain and now Lopmon was beginning to share some of her tamer's impatience. They wanted to get back to their friends and help them out in whatever way they can. But the former Deva knew that the Sovereign would only have called them if the situation is most dire. She then noticed that they were drawing closer to the dragon Digimon's home with the familiar mountains surrounding an area. "This is it?"

Lopmon gave a small nod. "Yes, Suzie…now we have to wait for Azulongmon to show up." Gennai went to a spot and sat down, cross-legged. He appeared to be meditating, to silently summon the great dragon Digimon. Above the trio, the clouds began to shift. Suzie looked up to see some glimpses of chains wrapped around another body. "Wow!! Pwetty!!" Finally, the head of the Eastern Sovereign popped out to greet his guests.

"I realize that time is of the essence so I will get right to the point. Zhuqiaomon is dying." This drew simultaneous gasps from both Gennai and Lopmon. The question that was running through their minds was 'how?' The dragon Digimon answered that question after pausing momentarily. "During the crisis with Millenniumon, Zhuqiaomon had been acting rather abnormally. He still had some shred of rationality but he made some rather questionable choices. It turned out that this was due to an encounter with an unknown program. Only now, we have discovered that there is still a trace of that program inside of him and that it is slowly deleting him from the inside."

"So what can we do?" asked Suzie. Azulongmon looked at the little girl with sadness in each of his eyes. If she did make this choice to help, then she will have to go through much grief. "Do you know about the purpose of the Devas?" Lopmon blinked in surprise. "The Devas were created by Lord Zhuqiaomon to protect the digital world from potential threats." 

"Let me start from the beginning. The concept of the Devas was something that all of us Sovereigns came up with. But we decided that Zhuqiaomon needed the Devas in his realm since there were no chosen children that could easily transport to the digital world. So we all contributed a part of our data to help in constructing your physical forms. Although Zhuqiaomon could have easily supplied all the data, we all voted that it was not a good idea, since having the Devas all viral could create some problems. So you see, the code of the Devas contained the vital algorithms needed…to become one of us." The rookie Digimon could hardly believe it. "W-what?"

The Eastern Sovereign continued. "All the vaccine Devas have the capability to digivolve to Ebonwumon while all the virus Devas have the capability to digivolve to Zhuqiaomon. The data ones could digivolve to either another version of me, although not as good looking, or to Baihumon, depending which of us supplied the initial data. Of course, we couldn't have multiple copies of Sovereigns so we placed certain safeguards to make sure that you can't reach that level. We did not willingly create this possible evolution step. It was simply a consequence of us supplying the data."  

"I see…so what you are saying is that you are going to make me digivolve and replace Zhuqiaomon?" asked Lopmon. The dragon Digimon gave a small sigh. "That is one possibility but it would be best if Zhuqiaomon's experiences and accumulated wisdom stay intact." An uncomfortable silence followed. The nature of Azulongmon's dilemma had begun to dawn upon Lopmon and Gennai while Suzie was still left in the dark.

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The holy knight slowly turned around to face his dark counterpart. "So this time, you're just going to kill me? What about proving your superiority or something?" Shadowgallantmon did not flinch. "I already did…don't tell me that you forgot about the time when I defeated you in combat. I have earned my prize. Now…any last words?"

Gallantmon frantically tried to come up with something to stall while he could try and figure out a way to get himself out of this mess. "It's odd but in a strange sense, what you represented helped me to survive during that time at home with the random Digimon attacks and the humans who wanted to take us apart to study through a microscope. It must have been those certain survival instincts or something." His brain gave a mental shout of triumph as a last minute, adrenaline rushed plan came to mind. "Believe it or not, it's been…interesting to know you." 

The dark knight remained silent…and then chuckled again. "I suppose I can say the same to you…in some sense. Goodbye." Gallantmon prepared to execute his plan. It needed extremely precise timing or it wasn't going to work. As Shadowgallantmon brought back his lance, the holy knight started to shift his weight. But before he could do anything, his chest exploded in pain. 

His vision started to blur. 'Damn…should have remembered that he's a part of me and that he would have anticipated that.' He started to give a small, insane laugh as he looked down, expecting to see a black lance plunged right through his chest. But there was nothing. This stopped the holy knight from laughing further. 'What's going on? Did I die already?'

He could still recognize the surroundings of the digital world. Maybe not very well with his blurry vision and the fog however he was definitely in the digital world. So where was Shadowgallantmon? He was there just a moment ago, ready to send him into oblivion. That question was soon answered as he saw a black and blue shape moving to avoid something…big and red. Gallantmon focused on clearing his vision.

When his eyes readjusted, he was not prepared for the sight before him. He had been aware of the chaos, the anger and the primal forces that had resided in him. He had been aware that he had taken a form to reflect that chaos but he had never truly seen it before…until now. Megidramon gave a mighty roar before charging the dark knight again. Shadowgallantmon gave a snarl before attacking. "Obsidian Lance!!!" The dragon then delivered his own punch. Both blows struck each other…forcing both contestants to go back. Gallantmon collapsed as his body felt the impact of both blows. 'So…I'm connected to them both? This just plain sucks.'

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"…the one thing that has bothered me throughout my stay at the Dark Ocean was where that message in a bottle came from." Ryo had just finished his story of the events that had occurred in the Dark Ocean to the others. Most of the children had gathered close…or as close as their flying Digimon could get them for those who had flying Digimon. Cody and Armadillomon were given rides by Aquilamon while Grani carried Rika and Renamon.  "Message in a bottle?" The legendary tamer nodded.

"It had something to do with the Four Great Dragons. I wish I knew some more about them." Then Nefertimon began to speak. "The Four Great Dragons were created when the digital world was in its infancy…that message could be an observation made by a priest or prophet about what gifts the reincarnations of the Dragons could have." The group remained silent on the subject for a while.  

Rika crossed her arms. "Why couldn't I have gone with Taichi? At least he would be better company than him…" Renamon gave a small sigh. "Henry was the logical choice to accompany Zero and Taichi. Not only does he have a D Terminal to communicate with us, Megagargomon would be more effective in penetrating Daemon's defenses."

While the other Digidestined were focused on the journey ahead, Cyberdramon flew a little bit closer to Grani. "Hey, how are you holding up?" asked Ryo. Rika just ignored the boy. He continued to talk. "So, tell me about the guy who stopped Millenniumon's rebirth." The Digimon Queen shot a glare. "Okay…what are you up to?"

"Nothing!! I just want to get to know Takato better and since you're the person who's closest to him, I thought you can offer some insight." The girl remained silent before she figured out what she wanted to say. "If you want to get to know him better, then just talk to him yourself. Now just stay away from me!" Ryo gave a sigh. "Look…I just don't want you to get hurt or anything." "Excuse me?!?!?"

"Rika, you're only…what? Eleven? Twelve years old? The feelings that you and Takato have for each other could be nothing more than puppy love or some sort of crush. You can't seriously be thinking that this relationship can last until the both of you are in your rocking chairs." Rika's violet eyes narrowed. "Ryo, for the last time, leave me alone and stay the hell out of my love life!!"

The boy sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all. But you may want to re-evaluate the relationship before you keep going. In every person's lifetime, relationships will come and go." With that said, he focused himself on the journey ahead. Rika tried to do the same but now she was quite troubled by what the legendary tamer had said. The main issue that was troubling her mind was the fact that Ryo could be right about the whole relationship thing. 

"We better step up the pace just a little bit. I want to dismantle that tower at the end of the hour," growled Cyberdramon. The others seemed to share the same feeling and started to speed up but not to the point of exhaustion. Ryo had a worried look as he glanced at his partner. Obviously, there had to be something huge to bother Cyberdramon this much.

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'Damn that stupid ass dragon…' Megidramon had created a large circle of flames around the dark knight and was focusing his Megido Flame attack directly on Shadowgallantmon. He would have moved to a safer place but so far, Megidramon seemed to cover all areas of escape. The dark knight had repeatedly attempted to tap into his hypertime ability (AN: remember from chapter 37 of BTOS?) to get himself out of this jam but for some reason, he couldn't activate his power.

He then started to raise his lance into the air. "Demon's Disaster!!" A wave of dark energy gathered around in a circle and started to spread out, extinguishing the flames and destroying the landscape at the same time. But the circle died down shortly since Shadowgallantmon did not put a large amount of energy into the attack. Come to think of it…he couldn't afford to put too much energy into that attack…not without risking total exhaustion. 'What's wrong with me? Maybe the dragon's punches are finally catching up to me.'

What the dark knight didn't notice was that Megidramon wasn't in the best of shape either and neither was Gallantmon. In fact, to say that Gallantmon wasn't in the best of shape would be a major understatement. After the amount of brutal punishment that his body took, it's a wonder that he's still conscious at all. 'Just stop fighting already! The both of you are pretty beat up and if you continue to fight like this, you'll probably kill each other…and me in the process!!'

But unfortunately, both of these Digimon have inherited Takato's stubborn attitude and 'don't give up' philosophy. Shadowgallantmon and Megidramon had gotten up and they were ready to fight again. Gallantmon simply watched them as he had little strength to actually stop the two contestants from continuing the battle. As the chaotic dragon and the dark knight charged to meet in battle again, the worn out holy knight just bowed his head in defeat for death seemed to be inevitable.

A noise was made as the dragon and the knight met…but it was not the noise of a fist making contact with armour or a lance piercing the skin. No, it was something completely different. Gallantmon looked up and gasped. He had seen many strange things before…and when he saw both Shadowgallantmon and Megidramon at the same time, he thought it couldn't get any stranger…until now. Standing in between the two contestants, with one arm stopping the lance and one arm blocking the punch was Gallantmon, Crimson Mode. He looked at both the dragon and the dark knight with a calm expression. "Now, now…can't we all just get along?" That was the last thing Gallantmon heard before slipping into darkness.

Lately, I've been reading that Gallantmon Crimson Mode would wipe the floor with Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. I see them as evenly matched as Imperialdramon cuts the power of any opposing virus Digimon in half and with Gallantmon's power quintupling against any Digimon with "Mode" in their name…well, you should know where I'm getting at. Yes, I know I've created quite a splendid mess but I can promise you that an explanation will be coming soon in the next chapter…or the one after. I don't know. Well, I'll see you guys next time!!


	19. Second Arc, Episode IX

Author's Notes: A few minor details I would like to try and clear up. First, a lot of you thought that Armageddemon was just waiting around. That's not true. I mentioned in one of the early paragraphs in the previous chapter that Gallantmon could hear the sounds of a fierce battle. But to help drive the point home, I'll write in a little segment here. Second, I already mentioned that Gennai was revitalized and in the youthful form that we saw in 02. If you forgot, please go back to chapter 4 and take a look. Third, I mentioned the reasons why it was decided that each Sovereign should contribute some data. I hope this helps you to understand events better. Especially you, Alex. Now, I'm getting quite concerned with how I can't seem to be able to access the DMA Digi Dex lately. There's a Digimon I saw there that I was planning to use but now, I'm not so sure. I'll do the best I can though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 2.9

Millenniumon felt the presence of his minion in the void. "Back so soon? And I see that you ran into a bit of trouble…" Armageddemon stumbled as he tried to walk. He had failed and now he was going to pay the price for failure. He looked up to see his master watching the battle that had ensued after the fog was created. The crimson knight and the demonic dragon had attacked as soon as they saw him.

These two mega Digimon were stronger than normal mega Digimon but Armageddemon should have been able to handle them. And he did…until the movements of the knight and the dragon became more synchronized and coordinated. Millenniumon just watched as the knight launched Armageddemon and slashed him several times in the air. Then the final slash knocked him straight into a deadly flamethrower attack by the dragon. 

But after the dragon delivered that attack, he started to sniff the air as if sensing another presence. Then he flew back into the fog. By this time, Armageddemon was in a weakened state so that the crimson knight could finish the job. He knew this and tried to take advantage of the opportunity but Armageddemon had already retreated. "I apologize for my failure, master. I'm prepared to accept my punishment."

There was no reaction from the other entity. "So I see…but I will not punish you for this. The boy's ability to quantum bio-merge was unexpected even though I had a suspicion after he had been hit by all four beams. Besides, I still require your services. Ryo is leading a group  towards the tower you had installed last night. And I believe that his partner knows how to dismantle the tower properly. I want you to stop them." Armageddemon hesitated before speaking. "Master…in my current condition, I would be defeated easily. And what use do you still have for the tower? It can only fire the beam once. You said so yourself."

"Indeed…the four towers can no longer fire the beam but their structure can directly change into the type of energy provided by the beam. Once I get all four towers together, they will shatter and then I can manipulate reality and create my new body. But this will only last for a brief moment and I need to make sure that nothing happens to those towers until that time. As for you, I can give you an upgrade. Once you're transformed, go and stop the group from reaching the tower." Armageddemon felt a familiar tingling as he began to transform. 

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The holy knight found himself sprawled out upon a couch inside Gennai's home. His body was still sore but at least it was more bearable. "How did I get here? How much time has elapsed since I passed out?" Gallantmon heard a noise from behind and saw the crimson knight looking through a book. "I brought you here. You left the entrance open when you went out. I don't know about the time though. Are you feeling any better?" (AN: For the remainder of the story, I will refer Gallantmon Crimson Mode as GCM)

"Yeah but I'm a bit more concerned with Shadowgallantmon and…" He tried to remember the name that Henry and Terriermon had given to him when he was still back home. GCM knew where Gallantmon was getting at. "Don't worry about it. I've secured both Megidramon and Shadowgallantmon so they won't be able to do much without me knowing it. Besides, they collapsed right after you did since they wore themselves out from the fight."

Gallantmon buried his head in his hands. "This is so messed up…just what happened to me? Where did you come from? I remember when I took on your form, I was still me. Henry told me that I was blinded by anger as Megidramon. As for Shadowgallantmon, I've always considered him as someone else. If I did ever bio-merge to become him, then I don't know what I would have been like." 

Before the other knight could answer, he felt a small tingling sensation at the back of his head. "Ah…the others have awakened." Gallantmon grew more worried as he followed his counterpart to another room. That worry quickly turned to something else as he saw Shadowgallantmon and Megidramon trying to fight each other. But without their great strength, the two Digimon almost fought like old men. It was kind of pathetic, really.

GCM cleared his throat as both virus Digimon in front of him collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. "If I wasn't…so damn tired…I would delete…you all…and load…your data," wheezed Shadowgallantmon. Megidramon tried to snarl in response but he was still trying to catch his breath. GCM gave a cold look. "Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. I believe I have found the cause for our predicament."

"Where did you find it?" asked the other holy knight. "I've been doing some research for the past while or so in Gennai's library. His library contains many files on the digital world as well as the human world. I was just looking through this particular file that may match our current condition." He held up the book that he was going through earlier.

"Hold it…how the hell did Gennai know...about this condition?" The dark knight was finding it a bit easier to breathe since he wasn't forcing his body to fight. "Gennai's library contains every bit of information from our digital world, including the type of chosen children who would represent humanity there. From how their Digivices, which are called D-Arks, interact with the Digimon to how the tamer can merge with his or her partner. He also has information about our world as well. I eventually found out that his library was divided into four main sections, each containing information from the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern realms. My guess is that since Gennai is a faithful and trustworthy person, Azulongmon entrusted him with all this data from each realm."

"So…spit it out. What is wrong with us?" Both Gallantmon and GCM were surprised that Shadowgallantmon has been somewhat courteous for this long. The crimson knight gave a sigh. "I'll tell you as best as I can. Just remember that this condition of ours changes how we have to fight and live until we can find a way to fuse together again. Now this condition is classified as the essence fracture…"

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Lopmon chose her words carefully before speaking. "Just wait for a moment. How can I be of any use to Zhuqiaomon? If what you say about us is true, then I can't be of any use. I'm a data type Digimon and he is a virus type." Azulongmon gave a sigh. "I was the original one who supplied your data but Zhuqiaomon wanted to be the one instead. In the end, you had traces of both data and viral attributes."

"That means she can't replace Zhuqiaomon. Since you were the one who supplied the original data for her basic form, she would technically digivolve into you, Azulongmon," stated Gennai. Suzie gave a groan. "I dunno what dey are saying. My head is going spinny…" Lopmon had a nagging feeling in her heart about what may lie in store for her.

Then the rookie Digimon had a firm look on her face. "Before we decide how I'm to be involved in this entire situation, I need to understand everything about what has been going on with the Sovereigns." The dragon Digimon gave a small sigh. "During the crisis with Millenniumon, we have gathered several times in order to find a way to resolve this. But Zhuqiaomon did not attend the meetings. We found out that he had encountered some sort of chaos which was affecting his judgment."

He paused for a moment. "After we had thought that we cleansed him, we focused our efforts on finding a way for Ryo to help fight Millenniumon. He decided to try the Dark Ocean but apparently he was trapped as someone else came out of the return portal. We then spent all of our energies to create a temporary vortex to where Millenniumon was and then retreated to our realms to recuperate. But later, Zhuqiaomon revealed to us that a part of the chaos was eating at him from inside when he was trying to figure out why he had not recovered as quickly as the rest of us." 

The trio below Azulongmon remained silent with two in deep thought and one wondering what was going on. "We were able to find the consciousness of one of the original Digimon programmers. With his help and our resources, we were able to flush the chaos out. But the damage had already been done. Now all Zhuqiaomon needs is a fresh infusion of his own data which you possess, Lopmon." 

"What's going on?" asked Suzie. Lopmon turned to her tamer, wondering how she was going to explain this. "We're going to visit someone who is very sick and needs our help…" She decided to save the rest of the explanation for later. A hug from her tamer interrupted her thoughts. And for the first time, Lopmon wished that the hug would never end.

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"…I don't get it." GCM couldn't blame the other holy knight for not understanding the condition when he himself barely understood it. When it came to Megidramon, he simply said that this is a special thing and that in order to go back to normal, he must not do anything to hurt the others, especially Shadowgallantmon. To do so otherwise could be bad and could hurt Rika emotionally if something bad happened to all of them. At least, the dragon had a vague understanding as it would be impossible to explain the technical details to him. But Shadowgallantmon understood the technical details and he wasn't very happy about it. "This is ridiculous…I want freedom but not at this price. This is all your fault, you know!! If you hadn't taken the four beams at once, then we wouldn't be in this mess!!"

Gallantmon glared at his dark counterpart. "And I take it that facing a reborn and revitalized Millenniumon is a better option?" The dark knight simply snorted, silently thinking that maybe facing a pissed off and revitalized god Digimon would be a bad idea. GCM decided to continue with his explanation after the other holy knight resumed paying attention. "The whole concept of bio-merging with a Digimon goes back to the early stages of the Digital Revolution project that was started by the four Sovereigns who are Zhuqiaomon, Baihumon, Ebonwumon and Azulongmon. The goal of the project was to have both humans and Digimon working together in harmony in each realm." 

"Baihumon first started thinking of bio-merging when he saw how powerful the human spirit can become. Zhuqiaomon had objected to the idea as he exclaimed it would taint the purity of Digimon. But the fact was that the others saw that the lifeforce of a human…the essence can help the Digimon to unleash his or her true power. They saw how the presence of a human helped the Digimon reach new heights and they were excited about how far that this bio-merged Digimon can go. Perhaps it could go further than the mega Digimon who reached that level when in the presence of a human." He waited to make sure that Gallantmon was still listening.

"They turned their studies to the actual essence of the human. It can be altered due to what the human is feeling. Look at Megidramon. He was born when your essence changed due to your anger. And if you actually bio-merged to become Shadowgallantmon, then your essence would have changed due to dark and malicious feelings in your heart. After an extensive study, they've sorted out the various possibilities that could happen if the essence were altered in someway. Now that we've discussed the history, let's get down to the actual condition…" Gallantmon nodded. "You said something about the essence fracture."

"First, you need to understand evolution chains. You are already aware of the fact that each Digimon has several possible evolution chains. Depending on the circumstances, Digimon can change into different forms that don't fit their normal attributes and qualities. Now each Digimon has a normal evolution chain that they should typically follow." Gallantmon thought about that for a moment. "Like Agumon's normal chain would be Greymon, Metalgreymon and Wargreymon?"

"You actually got that? Unbelievable," muttered Shadowgallantmon. The other holy knights ignored the dark knight. "Then there are some evolution chains that are similar to their normal evolution chain but different. Let's take an example and use Renamon for a moment. She can follow her normal evolution chain and become Sakuyamon but she can also follow a different chain which consists of Youkomon, Doumon and Kuzuhamon."

Gallantmon quickly remembered the cards that Rika showed him back at home. "Those two chains are similar to each other in terms of forms and attacks at each level." GCM gave a nod. "Exactly. Now…I think when those beams collided, the essence started to split apart at a level beyond atoms and molecules. After the encounter with Amaterasu, it was possible to split apart into tamer and Digimon but the D-Ark changed and gave five bio-merge options instead of one. You already know what happened when you used the Quantum Bio-Merge Program. The other four programs were to change into Gallantmon, Megidramon, Shadowgallantmon or myself."

Now the look of confusion came back to the other holy knight. "With your essence in this state, you have more controlled access to each different evolution to mega. Once you activate a program, you focus on that part of the essence and change accordingly. You must be aware that you may have to control certain urges as a result of using certain parts of your essence. Of course, I wouldn't know which programs are which but I know for sure that you shouldn't be able to access my form without Grani's help. You would need to have more than the leftover traces of data in order to fully access my powers." "Then how are you able to exist?"

"During that unusual episode when you temporarily gained the ability to manipulate reality, a part of your essence wanted to take a form to reflect what it represented. Thus, I was chosen. When you quantum bio-merged, that part of the essence was unleashed and formed an independent form by using the leftover traces of Grani's data. The other parts of your essence did the same thing as your anger formed Megidramon, your darkness formed Shadowgallantmon and your sense of morality formed Gallantmon." GCM paused as he saw the other holy knight look at him strangely. "So what part of me do you represent?" 

"What do you think?" The way GCM asked that question, it felt like that Gallantmon was talking to an older and more authoritative figure. The crimson knight continued. "We were all able to take independent forms because of the large amount of data that Guilmon possessed. He had uploaded the data of several Digimon over the past while. And his data increases exponentially when you bio-merge with him. When you quantum bio-merged, there was enough data to create four separate entities with their basic powers intact. But Megidramon got the short end of the stick in terms of size."

Gallantmon then understood just how GCM was able to drag the dragon into the house. The three knights were their typical size while Megidramon had shrunk to about the same height as the others. "Any specific powers we had were taken away, such as Shadowgallantmon's hypertime ability. As for the Goliath Knight, we can't use its full powers. We can only teleport short distances so the only worth it has is as an evasive move to confuse the enemy. We are also all connected to each other so we all feel each other's pain." The holy knight was going to ask a question but GCM had anticipated that question. "Since my armour is stronger and I have more endurance to pain, I won't fall so easily." 

He paused before continuing. "There is also one final negative side effect. We have to stay within a certain distance of each other or otherwise…we fade away. Because of the essence's fragile state while sustaining all four of our forms, if we stray too far away from each other, the connection that that particular piece of the essence has to the rest of us will snap. Without the rest of the essence to support it, the result is total fragmentation."

"Anything on the bright side? This whole quantum bio-merge program seems to be a big headache." GCM remembered what happened from before after he had awakened. "We also gained new attacks that can be unleashed while fighting as a team. I know because me and Megidramon were able to defeat Armageddemon when we first awoke by a combination attack. By using different partners and varying team sizes, there could be dozens of combinations out there!"

Shadowgallantmon finally snapped. "It's bad enough that I have to stick around with you losers but I will not work with the rest of you as a team!! I hate hearing all that crap about how teamwork can overcome any obstacle!! But if I have to do this, I might as well be the commander since I'm the only sane being around here!" GCM looked at the dark knight with a calm expression. "There is no 'I' in team…but there is a 'we' in weapon." (AN: The preceding quote was borrowed from Wizards of the Coast) The others froze at his comment. "If we combined our powers together, who knows what type of ultimate combination attack we may unleash? Now that we've all rested up, we have to get going."

The dark knight was now thinking of what capability this new combination attack could have as he started walking up the stairs after GCM used the control to activate the stairway. "Just where are we going?" asked Gallantmon. "I believe we should fuse back into one being and perhaps Azulongmon can assist us. I wouldn't count on Amaterasu since she is a divine goddess and that she shouldn't directly interfere with the affairs of mortals. There are too many risk factors involved in this quantum bio-merge program."

Shadowgallantmon voiced his opinion. "I agree with the ladies' man over there. This type of freedom stinks like hell and I would rather be in oblivion than associate with the rest of you in person." GCM and Gallantmon exchanged confused looks. "Yeah…let's get this done quickly before I get even more freaked out…"

Megidramon started to sniff the air and started to snarl. The attention of the knights focused on the dragon who was pointing towards a direction in which there were tiny figures moving to another location. "What is it?" asked Gallantmon. The dragon spoke only one word in a raspy voice. "Daemon." All three knights gasped…the two holy knights at the shock of Daemon's presence and the dark knight at something else. "I don't believe this…you can talk?!?!?" 

And another chapter is finished!! I'll try and focus on the others next chapter but I felt I needed to explain how the essence fracture and the quantum bio-merge program worked. I hope you understood it. It took me a while to figure out how to explain the theory. Here's how I look at it.

Each different mega form requires a different part of the essence except for GCM who only needs the normal essence plus Grani's data. 

Now under quantum bio-merging, all aspects that create different mega forms split up and become independent entities. Darkness creates Shadowgallantmon, anger and primal instincts create Megidramon, morality creates Gallantmon. 

GCM becomes an independent entity as a different part of Takato's essence emerges. It's a part of him that he had never really given thought of. What part of him is it? I'll tell you in another chapter. I think I gave a clear explanation about how they are able to maintain their forms. Now check out my pros and cons list of quantum bio-merging.

PROS: Various combination attacks when in teams of two or three, ultimate attack when all four combine powers. 

CONS: Feel each other's pain, stripped of any specialty powers, have to stay within distance of each other to avoid fragmentation, different personalities clash, grudges (Megidramon and Shadowgallantmon, Gallantmon and Shadowgallantmon), size difference in Megidramon's case.

Other bio-merge programs can turn Takato into one of the following: Gallantmon, Shadowgallantmon, Megidramon and GCM (this program can only be used with Grani present).

And don't start asking me about other possible evolution chains as written on Guilmon's card in the real Digimon card game. I spoke about evolution chains earlier. Megidramon, Shadowgallantmon, Gallantmon and GCM are direct mega forms of Guilmon's normal evolution chains so that's why they are being used. Besides, the tamers aren't supposed to know that Guilmon has the potential to go to other mega forms using other evolution chains. That's it for now. See you next time.


	20. Second Arc, Episode X

Author's Notes: In this chapter, I'll put a little more focus on Ryo's group as well as Taichi and Henry. And the tamers back in the Southern realm and Beelzemon too. Anyways, I don't know how many chapters this may end up being. Maybe just like BTOS with 40 chapters or slightly less. I'll just have to keep writing for a bit and find out what happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. I also do not own Contra.

Ascension – V 2.0

'Aw, man…what am I going to do? I have no experience how to do this right! And since Davis doesn't have any experience in this type of thing, I am doomed to be forever out of the romantic loop!!' Exveemon was getting more depressed by the second as he kept flying towards their destination. 'Renamon is different. Her character is that of a warrior and that means she can't really go for any mushy stuff.'

"Something on your mind?" asked Stingmon, his DNA digivolving partner. For the past little while, Exveemon had been fidgeting during the flight. The other champion gave a nervous laugh. "Not really, Stingmon! Just little bits of things here and there but I can deal with it!!" He gave another nervous laugh. "You sure?" asked Davis. Exveemon just gave a nod.  "Okay…"

'No mushy stuff, eh? That means I'm going to have a harder time connecting with her like Davis said.' He vaguely recalled the talk that he and Davis had on how to get women to like you or something like that. "Watch out, Exveemon!!" He gave a sigh as he heard Renamon's voice. 'She really cares for me if she's telling me to watch out for that big flame up ahead…what the?!?'

He dodged to the right, barely avoiding the attack. Davis was panting heavily as he had received probably the biggest scare in his life. "That was kind of cutting it close, buddy!!" The rest of the group had stopped and started to focus in on a Digimon up ahead. "Damn…he moved. Oh well." The Digimon prepared to attack again.

Ryo checked the statistics on this Digimon. "Reapermon, a mega level, cyborg Digimon. Virus type. His attacks are Skull Whirlwind and Serpent Flame Purgatory." Cyberdramon had a grin on his face with his thirst for battle flaring up. Renamon waited for her tamer to give a signal. Then Rika prepared to stand up. "I'll have to sort out my feelings later. Biomerge Activate!!"

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"So what exactly is the deal between you and Neo? You never did spill any details during the talk last night," stated Terriermon. The group had been walking for some time in search of the other tamer. Henry kept checking his D terminal for any messages. Taichi placed his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "Neo was the best competitor in the V-Tamer tournament. I wanted to see how I could match up against him. After the battle, it turned out that we had a draw. I think he went ballistic over that one match and so that's why he's been obsessed with beating me and Zero."

"And I thought Rika was bad…every time I tried to bring up the subject about the tournament that she lost to Ryo, she would always start strangling me!!" Terriermon shivered at that unpleasant memory. Henry chose this moment to speak. "Well…she could have done worse. Knowing her, she would probably kick your ass. Then order Renamon to kick your ass. Finally, they would bio-merge and kick your ass once more as Sakuyamon."

"Wow…that's a lot of ass kicking," stated Zero. He had digivolved to champion level right after they had started their search, near the forest where Neo was reported to be lurking around, since that was the form he preferred to be in. Terriermon gave a frown. "Yeah, I'm finding it difficult to find a person who's more of a sore loser than Rika. She's so proud and all that stuff!! She always feels like she has to win. The way you describe Neo…it makes him sound like a psycho!"

"Psycho, you say? I beg to differ." Neo's voice came out of nowhere and startled the entire group. Taichi stepped forward. "Alright!! Where are you, Neo? You said you wanted to prove who's the better tamer and settle this once and for all! Then come on out!!" Moments later, they saw a white haired boy step out from behind one of the trees. "So nice to see you again…odd. I see you haven't changed. Perhaps I had mistaken that other boy for you. Oh well."

Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Are you talking about Davis? We have a few similar qualities but other than that, we are two different people! Now where's your partner?!? Zero's got a new trick that he's anxious to show you…and I've also got a friend here who would also like to show you something neat!!" Neo gave a smirk. "Well, at least this should be interesting…Animal Digimon. Specialty attack…Terrier Tornado. Weight…8 Gigas. Vaccine Type. Rookie Level. If this pet has any interesting tricks, then I'll look forward to seeing what he can do against ArcaDemon!!"

The goggled tamer went pale. "I-impossible!! We nuked ArcaDemon when he was a shrimp!! I remember coming up with the alternative victory pose for Zero that day!!" A shadow started to come up from behind Neo. The two tamers and their Digimon looked up in horror as they saw ArcaDemon walk in. "ArcaDemon and I are linked by Fate and together, we will accomplish my goal and crush you and Daemon in the process!!" 

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"Can we fly any faster? At this rate, by the time I reach Daemon, I'll be needing a cane to walk!!" Shadowgallantmon gave an irritated growl. Gallantmon frowned underneath his helmet. "Sorry, but I can't fly as fast as the rest of you! In this form, I can only fly certain distances and jump well."

"Then grab dragon boy's tail or something!! You're slowing us down!" snapped the dark knight. The holy knight gave a nervous look at the dragon of chaos. The only response he gave was a grunt so Gallantmon assumed that it was okay. He nervously placed his hand around the tail. Megidramon did not react as he was too focused on Daemon. "Alright…let's roll!!" Gallantmon had to hold on as Megidramon shot forward along with Shadowgallantmon and GCM.

'How did I ever get myself into this?' He still couldn't believe that everyone else wanted to go after Daemon. Shadowgallantmon obviously wanted the data that the demon Digimon possessed. GCM wanted to eradicate this menace and threat to the digital world as soon as possible. As for Megidramon, he's assuming that the dragon is going after Daemon because he's really strong and can hurt others quite easily, especially Rika. 

"Knowing Daemon, he'll probably have his three minions with him…Ladydevimon, Skullsatamon and Marinedevimon," stated the crimson knight. Shadowgallantmon remembered that little detail. "True…that means everyone gets a dancing partner. Casanova, you can take Ladydevimon. Dragon boy can tangle with Marinedevimon. And that means dork face over there can fight with Skullsatamon." 

GCM gave a flat reply. "That won't work." The dark knight gave a glare at GCM. "And what exactly is the flaw in my proposal, Casanova?" The crimson knight stopped flying…and gave a temporary feeling of panic in the others as they tried to put on the brakes before they ventured too far and suffered from fragmentation. Well…Gallantmon had to disengage and yank Megidramon back. Needless to say, the dragon wasn't very happy and had to fight the urge to fry the holy knight to a crisp.

"First, Megidramon is impulsive and is likely to go after Daemon. Second, I don't think you are strong enough to take Daemon out. Third, Skullsatamon will be too fast for Gallantmon to handle. Finally, I have no intention of striking a lady." Gallantmon and Shadowgallantmon both gave GCM a look of disbelief. "You wouldn't hurt a lady even if she is evil and trying to kill you?"

"I would defend myself but I would not strike her. Now, I believe it would be best if Shadowgallantmon fought Skullsatamon and Gallantmon fought Ladydevimon. Megidramon should take out Marinedevimon as soon as possible and then help with Daemon. Are you alright with this plan?" Gallantmon gave a meek nod while Megidramon grunted. GCM frowned, uncertain whether the dragon understood the message. "So…basically, you would never hurt a woman even if she was giving you a severe ass kicking?"

The crimson knight gave an irritated sigh. "Let's keep going. We don't want Daemon to get too far ahead of us." As the group resumed their journey, Gallantmon vaguely remembered something from when he was much younger. His mother often told him stories about medieval knights and what they were like. He looked back to GCM. 'Just what part of me are you?' Shadowgallantmon was silently muttering to himself. "There is something seriously wrong with this guy."

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"Any word yet?" Kenta shook his head to respond to Alice's question. The two were waiting for Kazu, Jeri, Leomon and Guardromon to get back with the medical supplies. Ever since people started getting trapped in the crossfire during their battles, the tamers have taken it upon themselves to use an old infirmary as a relief shelter. Because of their efforts, some members of the public were slowly becoming convinced that not all Digimon were bad.

MarineAngemon had been doing his best to heal the injuries of the various people inside the infirmary but he can only do so much. The more seriously injured people were escorted to hospitals, courtesy of the tamers. Kenta gave a sigh. "It would be nice if we had a doctor to help around here. I don't know how much we can count on Leomon's rudimentary medical knowledge." Alice gave a small smile. "We'll just have to do our best."

"I see something!" The two were alerted to Dobermon's voice. They looked out the window and saw their friends, running from a giant human shaped robot. "What the…?" The robot split into three components momentarily before reformatting itself to become a bird. It then started to fire a giant laser beam from its beak which just missed the tamers. (AN: This guy is based on the robot human/bird/walking tank boss in Contra: Hardcorps for Sega Genesis. I've recently played the game and…wow!! Talk about wacky bosses and choices!)

"Kazu, we must confront this menace at once!!" Guardromon turned around and prepared to fire his missiles. The boy hesitated before handing his share as well as his partner's over to Leomon and Jeri. "We'll try and provide some cover! You just get back to the infirmary!" He then took out a card. 'After all this is over, there better be a statue of me and Guardromon!! We kept risking our butts out there!!'

Before he could create the Blue Card, the bird shaped automaton changed again. This time, the upper torso formed a humanoid shape while the bottom formed a tank shaped structure. Then it started to fire missiles from both sections. Kazu panicked and frantically searched for some sort of shield card. "Corona Blaster!!" A pink beam came out of nowhere and destroyed the missiles. Kazu turned to see Beelzemon. "What are you doing here?"

"Every time I've tried to clear my head and think about what's going on, stupid Digimon and things like these always keep popping up! I figured that if I'm ever going to get some peace and quiet to think things over, I gotta make sure that this world remains in one piece!!" The demon lord Digimon drew a star and aimed it at the robot. "Corona Destroyer!!" The blast directly hit the machine and forced it to split apart into three components. When they tried to reassemble themselves together, a malfunction occurred and they self-destructed. 

"Well…that was wacky." Kazu gave Guardromon a weird look. The champion Digimon gave a shrug. "Well…you did say I had to come up with my own lines." They looked up to thank Beelzemon but he was already focused on something else. "This is just not my day…" They knew what he meant when they saw two large machines, one blue and the other a beige colour, heading towards them with weapons charged. (AN: Based on the pre-boss boss characters in Contra III: The Alien Wars for SNES)

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Yamaki watched silently as the TV news anchor kept speaking of other strange anomalies popping up from around the world and how tamers from different regions are battling them alongside their Digimon. He had checked the polls and public opinion about the Digimon was improving. If this kept up, then the United Nations may see no reason to get rid of the digital pestilence. Hypnos and Juggernaut would probably be reformatted to get rid of all Digimon that don't have a tamer. Everyone would be satisfied with that type of solution but not Yamaki.

The Monster Makers are working diligently to perfect Juggernaut and send every Digimon back to where they came from. At first, they were reluctant to undertake a gigantic project so he had to make a compromise to have Juggernaut simply send every Digimon back to the digital world instead of delete them all. Basically, all that's left of the original Juggernaut is the vacuum effect to suck all digital life into the vortex. They practically scrapped the Digimon deletion protocols from the program and started creating something new altogether.

As for the alien forces that were popping up at random locations, that would have to be dealt with. However, the Monster Makers were in the process of modifying the Juggernaut program to send those alien life forms that were still on the planet to the digital world as well. How they would be able to accomplish that, Yamaki had no idea. All he knew was that they were trying to base the modifications on some rather interesting physics experiments that had taken place in the past few years.

If they did find a way to send everything back to where they came from, they would definitely take the Nobel Prize in Physics. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. "Come." A technician walked in with a report. "Sir, I would like to inform you that the Alpha Version of the Neo Juggernaut program has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances." Yamaki played with his lighter. "Estimated repair time?" "Two weeks…minimum."

He growled slightly. "Will that be enough time to implement the operation?" The technician nodded. "We've completed the piggyback program and by the time the Monster Makers get their program running, the original Juggernaut will be ready. Once they activate their program, the original one will take over certain aspects and delete all digital life forms. We made sure that any programming in the Neo Juggernaut that doesn't concern Digimon is left alone." A smirk came to Yamaki's lips. "Good work. Keep me informed."

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"The Western sector is somewhat militarized so that would be a good place to start first. The Guard Tamers are not like the Digidestined here…they will be organized with a chain of command and offensive and defensive sequences. Once we conquer that realm, it will be easier to take the others," stated Daemon. Marinedevimon blinked. "So if we're going to the Western region, where are we flying to?"

"They are more sensitive to dimensional transport and may detect us if I transport us directly. As I recall, they were able to almost immediately home in your position and launch a counterattack before you can scout things thoroughly, Skullsatamon. However, if we go to a certain position in this digital world and transport from there, we can cripple the Guard Tamers if we work efficiently enough. I would rather like to keep this under our hats so delete any Digimon that see us." Daemon grinned underneath his hood. 

"Hold it, foul demon!! You won't be hurting any Digimon today!! Not while I exist!!" All four of them stopped and blinked simultaneously as a red shape flew down from above. GCM drew his sword and pointed it at Daemon. "Today is your final day unless you repent your sins." The four demonic Digimon started to laugh, amused at what the crimson knight was saying. "In that case, prepare thyselves for battle!!" "Step aside, fool."

Daemon's statement pretty much flew in one ear and out the other as GCM did not budge. "If you want to get to where you are going, you will have to get past the both of us!!" Gallantmon then flew down to join the crimson knight. Before they could comprehend this recent development, they heard a shout of frustration from above. "Oh, for the love of…hey, you know what? While we're giving ridiculous speeches, why don't we introduce ourselves and strike some sort of heroic pose while preaching that we fight for love and justice?!?" They all looked up to see a black and blue knight and a red dragon, who had a hungry look on his face directed at Daemon.

'Hmmmmm…' Gallantmon's imagination took hold as he saw the dragon and the three knights strike a pose and shout "We are the Hazard Force!!" Normally, Takato would have recognized sarcasm but the childish instincts of his partner had to think about that for a moment. During the flight, he had asked where Guilmon's consciousness had gone off to. GCM explained that Guilmon only had two parts in his mind…his childish innocence and his viral instinct. Obviously, the viral instinct went to Megidramon. But GCM wasn't sure where the childish nature of the viral dino had went to. Gallantmon shrugged a bit. 'At least that explains my craving for bread.'

Shadowgallantmon gave another shout of frustration when he saw his holy counterpart thinking about that. "You moron!!! Don't you know what sarcasm means, dork face?!? I don't know how much longer I can take being around this imbecile!!" Megidramon decided not to wait any longer and dived down to start the attack. Marinedevimon tackled him and the two went off to another area to fight. "Destroy them!!" roared Daemon. As GCM and the two other knights prepared to fight, he made a silent prayer to Amaterasu that Daemon would not be able to discover their weakness and exploit it.

There we go…by this time, I have definitely finished half the book. And for those of you who are still with me, a big thank you. Now…with YTV running new Frontier, maybe I can cook up something for "Other Voices". Keep checking because I'll eventually get something out!


	21. Third Arc, Episode I

Author's Notes: Here we go with the Third Arc. I may have to put "Other Voices" on hiatus for a while with my busy schedule and the fact that I'm having a bit of writer's block on it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.1

Reapermon dodged another barrage of attacks made by Shakkoumon. "It's so nice to run into all of you again. Now I can finish you all!!" Cody blinked at this revelation. "What do you mean? We've met before?" The cyborg Digimon focused on channeling his energy as he put some distance between himself and his opponents. 

"We battled when I was Armageddemon. I was pretty strong before but my upgrade has elevated me to a level that you cannot match!! Serpent Flame Purgatory!!" The others had to once again back off as Reapermon performed his attack. Everybody had gotten back to a safe distance so the attack didn't inflict any casualties. "Alright, guys!! Let's waste this piece of trash!!" shouted Yolei enthusiastically. 

'Easier said than done, Yolei.' Justimon transformed his right arm into a red blade. "Voltage Blade!!" His overhead strike was blocked by Reapermon's right arm. Then Reapermon grabbed the android Digimon's scarf to make escape difficult. He was about to make a counterattack when Silphymon and Imperialdramon blasted him both at the same time. "Static Force!!" "Positron Laser!!" Ryo gave a sigh of relief inside his sphere. "Thanks!!" Reapermon simply shrugged off the attack and went back on the offensive.

"So far, all of our attacks have done squat against this guy! How can we beat him?" Sakuyamon had to duck as another attack went over her head. As Rika prepared to her Dragon Helix, Renamon took this opportunity to speak. "In our current condition, we cannot defeat Reapermon but perhaps if we used Grani…" 

"Huh?"  This obviously caught the girl's interest. "When we traveled to Zhuqiaomon's realm, I overheard Guilmon and Grani talking about how the machine can graft itself on to other Digimon and enhance them in the process." Rika gave a smirk inside her sphere. "Now we're talking! Dragon Helix!!" She quickly fired off the attack to distract Reapermon even further before making her way to the glider. It had tried using its own weapons but they hardly made any effect on the cyborg Digimon.

"I need for you to graft yourself on to me." Grani started responding with beeps and other mechanical noises. "That would not be a good idea. Gennai is concerned about how the graft program may be affected from the four beams since the program was running during the collision. Although the diagnostics could not detect anything, he suggested not running the program for safety reasons." 

Sakuyamon ground her teeth slightly. "Listen to me, you bucket of bolts. Reapermon has more weaponry and strength than any of us and we need to have more power in order to stand a chance against him. I don't really care if I get a Mode Change or not. I just want to make sure that Reapermon gets wasted!! Now graft with me already!!"

Another blast later and Silphymon and Shakkoumon were taken out of the battle. As Imperialdramon provided cover fire, Kari, TK, Yolei and Cody retrieved their partners. 'If he was the one guarding the tower, then it's obvious that he only obtained this upgrade through Millenniumon,' thought Ryo. "Look out!!" shouted Ken. Justimon gave a startled gasp as he saw something coming towards him. 

"Dragon Helix!!" He noticed an energy attack completely nullify the projectile heading towards him. How was this possible? Rika never had this type of power before. He turned to see Sakuyamon but rather than the familiar yellow mask, armour and staff, they were all a dark red instead. "Is that Rika?" asked TK weakly. The new Sakuyamon twirled her staff briefly. "Show time." (AN: There was an LCD image of the red Sakuyamon from the Rumble Arena or something. In here, she is still the same Digimon but with improved speed, strength, etc.) 

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"Power Pummel!!" ArcaDemon blocked the attack before leaping out of the way of Zero's Positron Laser. Neo frowned as he thought this wasn't going too well. Zero and Taichi are formidable adversaries and right now, this green giant was distracting them. ArcaDemon had to back off but Megagargomon sped up using the Goliath Rook and kicked him away. "And this guy is just an ultimate?!? Talk about being overpowered!!" Henry had to agree with Terriermon on that one there.

Taichi took out his notebook. "That's enough! We have to take out this overpowered Digimon once and for all!! Digi Scan!! Omega Sword!!" Neo gawked in surprise as Zero transformed into his Paladin Mode. Zero then prepared to make a slash at ArcaDemon. "Omega Sword!!" The other Digimon moved out of the way but in doing so, ended up eating missiles from Megagargomon.

Neo clenched his fists as he saw his partner being put on the defensive. "No…I won't let it end this way!! Get up!!! We cannot lose!! Not to them, not to anybody!! Do you hear me?!? You are the strongest one of all!! You will not lose to these trash tamers!!!" Zero growled. "Don't call Taichi a trash tamer!! Giga Crusher!!" He fired the beam before ArcaDemon could dodge it.

If the beam had been fully charged, then ArcaDemon would have probably been vapourized. Even though it was at a fairly low level, he was in quite a bit of pain as the beam came from an extremely powerful vaccine Digimon. "Let's finish this!! Gargo Missiles!!!" Megagargomon fired his two gigantic missiles straight at ArcaDemon. Zero formed the special cannon to fire his strongest attack. "Hyper Prominence!!"

"Damn it!!! I've raised you…I poured every ounce of energy I had to ensure that your incubation was a success, to ensure that you have every advantage in battle and I know that you can do much better than this!! Don't prove me wrong!!" Neo had to shield his eyes as the two attacks hit their target. "Nailed him!!" But when the smoke cleared, they saw a giant grey and red Digimon with demonic wings on his back. Taichi gasped. "W-what?" Henry pulled up some new statistics before reporting the grim news. "This is his mega form…"

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"Megido Flame!!" Marinedevimon moved out of the way to avoid Megidramon's attack. The dragon then tried to deliver a punch to the other Digimon but Marinedevimon quickly blocked it before punching the dragon right in the snout. Normally, it would have hurt, especially since that Marinedevimon had more strength than usual thanks to his master's blessing. But in order for the dragon Digimon's brain to register pain, it would have to hurt a lot worse than Marinedevimon's punch. Having a rather small IQ does have its advantages after all. How Megidramon could still continue to fight after receiving a punch from a Digimon who was larger and stronger greatly puzzled Marinedevimon.

'This is going to be tough. He's fighting like a caged animal and is going all out.' If Marinedevimon were smart, he would have figured out a way to use this to his advantage but then again, Taichi did defeat him back in the Northern Realm. He never had time to finish his thoughts as the dragon brought him down and started pummeling him with everything he had. It was quite amazing as the dragon Digimon was by far smaller than Marinedevimon.

Shadowgallantmon winced as he felt several blows…not by Ladydevimon though. He quickly dodged her Darkness Wave attack before checking on the others. 'Casanova seems to be doing fine. Dragon boy is beating the living crap out of Marinedevimon…that means dork face over there is getting outmaneuvered by Skullsatamon. He's got crazy speed but he takes and deals damage like a wuss.' After forcing Ladydevimon back with a good kick, he gave a shout to Gallantmon. "Dork face!! Switch!!"

Gallantmon was irritated that his dark counterpart continued to refer to him as 'dork face' but he quickly leapt back to face Ladydevimon. Shadowgallantmon flipped over the holy knight before taking on Skullsatamon. "Nail Bone!!" The dark knight used his lance to parry the attack but could not launch a counterattack as Skullsatamon had already moved. He focused his senses on the shifts in the wind that were made by Skullsatamon's movements. "Obsidian Lance!!" He thrust the lance in a direction and right through Skullsatamon's chest. He burst into data, which was quickly uploaded by the dark knight.

Shadowgallantmon gave a small exhale as he finished the uploading sequence. "One down, three to go." He looked over at Megidramon, who was still tangling with Marinedevimon. The ultimate Digimon had his back turned to the dark knight as he was too focused on Megidramon. Shadowgallantmon took advantage of this opportunity and unleashed a vicious barrage of kicks and attacks with his lance to the head before his final blow sent Marinedevimon flying straight into Megidramon. At that moment, the dragon performed an uppercut and Marinedevimon was up in the air. Megidramon quickly soared up, grabbed his opponent and drilled him back to the ground for a devastating slam. (AN: Kind of like the drill slam in one of Yugo's Hyper Beast Attacks from Bloody Roar: Primal Fury) 

Satisfied that Marinedevimon was out of the picture, Megidramon flew in the direction where Daemon and GCM were fighting. The dark knight watched as the dragon departed from the area. 'He forgoes loading data to make him stronger to take on a far superior enemy just to get more fighting time. Talk about having the IQ of a bulldozer. Well, I guess that means more for me then.'

Marinedevimon's body was shimmering in and out, trying to hold itself together so it won't shatter into data. But Shadowgallantmon had other plans. "Demon's Disaster!!" An explosion later and the dark knight was uploading the data of another minion. Not only did he feel his strength increase but he could feel some of his injuries subside. He silently wondered whether the others would be affected like this as well. 

"Haven't you ever heard of a manicurist?!?" Gallantmon was trying to avoid being scratched by Ladydevimon's long nails. The fallen Digimon prepared to fire her attack. "Darkness Wave!!" The holy knight raised his shield and felt the full impact of the attack slam him backwards. He quickly aimed his lance at the other Digimon. "Royal Sabre!!"

With a swing of her arm, she deflected the beam into the sky and noticed that the holy knight was charging at her. The virus Digimon stepped to the side just as he went by her and almost collided with Shadowgallantmon, who at the last minute used his fragment of the Goliath Knight to phase out momentarily as Gallantmon went by. "Watch where you're going, you moron!!" The holy knight wondered how his dark counterpart was able to finish off Skullsatamon so easily. "She's going to be hard to beat! Her attacks feel like that of a mega rather than an ultimate!!"

The dark knight remained focused on his target. "Yeah, I've noticed. I have an idea for an attack plan." Before Gallantmon could ask what it was, Shadowgallantmon grabbed the edges of the holy knight's armour. "Just land on your feet and charge her with your shield." Then he raised the struggling holy knight high. "It's away!!" He hurled Gallantmon towards Ladydevimon with all of his might. She easily ducked but didn't expect the holy knight to land on his feet and dash towards her. Before she could figure this out further, she was slammed on two sides by two shields.

Both knights kept moving and sandwiching the fallen Digimon with their shields until she just collapsed in pain. "We did it! Wait…what are you doing?" Shadowgallantmon wasted no time and immediately deleted Ladydevimon. "Hey!! What was that for?" The dark knight loaded the data of the Digimon and felt himself being rejuvenated. At the same time, Gallantmon felt his senses sharpen and his energy levels replenished. "Did you have to ask?" asked his dark counterpart in a cold tone.

"Evil Inferno!!" Megidramon was about to charge the attack head on when GCM tackled him to the ground. Then both Digimon got up to attack. "Megido Flame!!" "Invincible Sword!!" Daemon easily blocked the flame but he dodged the sword attack. GCM was still able to get a small bit of Daemon. He hissed in pain as the crimson knight landed and prepared to attack again.

"You are still able to injure me…even though I have unlocked Millenniumon's secrets from the Dark Spore, I am still vulnerable to your attacks." GCM's eyes widened in alarm before narrowing again. "The likes of you will always fall to those who are blessed with holy power!!" He charged again and Daemon flew out of the way while shielding himself from Megidramon's attack. 'This shouldn't be possible…even with my attributable weakness to holy knights and beasts, my new abilities should be able to make up for it!!' 

"What do we have here? Casanova is still fighting with Daemon while I already wasted and uploaded his three stooges!" Shadowgallantmon smirked underneath his helmet. Gallantmon rolled his eyes. "If I recall, you did have some help in defeating Ladydevimon." "Oh, will you just shut up?!?" The holy knight sighed.

'He uploaded the data of Marinedevimon, Skullsatamon and Ladydevimon? That explains why this holy knight is injuring me. His strength has increased due to the uploading process.' Daemon remembered how uploading worked since it was possible to do that while in the Northern Realm. In fact, he had intended for ArcaDemon to upload as much data as possible to digivolve faster. 'This attributable weakness may be my downfall. I have to find a way to neutralize it.' He started to turn in the other direction. "We've got to strike now while he's weak!!" shouted GCM. All four Digimon focused their energy into their respective attacks. 

"HAZARD CRUSH BLOW!!!"

As the four energy attacks combined, the beam took on the shape of the Digital Hazard before flying straight at Daemon. He knew he couldn't outrun the beam so he did the only thing he could do. He ripped open an escape portal and jumped in. The beam missed the portal by milliseconds and kept flying off into the distance. Then all four virus Digimon had to shield their eyes as a massive explosion took place. When the smoke cleared, they saw much of the landscape ruined and beyond recognition. GCM went pale. "By the Sovereigns…is this the full extent of our power?" While the others just stared at the destruction before them, Shadowgallantmon crowed with delight. "Hot damn!! What a rush!! Let's do it again!!"

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She heard a sigh and then a soft female voice. "A pity that he cannot be saved." Then there was laughter. It was not carefree laughter or laughter that one would expect to hear from a diabolical villain. It was somewhere in between. Not really villainous but it carried a cold tone with it. "He attacked first. He was the aggressor. After he is destroyed, the data must be uploaded to ensure that he is not revived."

When the fight between her and Reapermon had first started, she could hear whispers in her head. She wasn't sure where they came from so she tried to ignore them as she fought with the cyborg Digimon but they started to get louder. Rika had asked Renamon where those voices came from but Renamon didn't respond. Now she was getting quite worried. The cynical voice came back again. "You're worried about her? Don't be. She's nothing but data anyways."

"Skull Whirlwind!!" Sakuyamon barely dodged the attack as the voices started to crowd her head. She could hear Justimon and Imperialdramon attack Reapermon, in an effort to give her some relief from the battle but the relief would not last long. The cyborg Digimon easily dealt with both Digimon, regardless of the obvious size difference in Imperialdramon's case. "I don't know what type of power you have been given but I'm afraid that you must be disposed." She didn't hear him as her mind was echoing with the voices again. Finally, she poured her power into her next attack in an attempt to silence everything. "Fox Drive!!!" The foxes attacked the other Digimon and within moments he was deleted.

"Alright!! Way to go, Rika!!" cheered Kari. But that moment of celebration turned to concern when they saw Sakuyamon collapse to her knees and drop her staff. She held her head protectively, trying to protect it from something. 'Shut up…leave me alone…Takato, help me…'

If the voices had a form, then one of them would have a look of pity and the other would have a look of disgust. "There's no one here to help you. In reality, all you can count on is yourself. And in reality, love is dangerous. It's not like anything in stories. No…if it were anything like that, dad would never have left. Besides, why did you immediately jump into the relationship with goggle head anyway? Were you afraid of having nobody to love and dying alone? Weakling…"

Well, sorry if the chapter didn't end right. I had a tough time figuring out how to end this properly. Nothing much to say this time so see you in the next instalment. 


	22. Third Arc, Episode II

Author's Notes: Just a minor note that Shadowgallantmon is more than power hungry. He practically has an addiction to chaos and destruction so hence, the little exclamation in the previous chapter. I'm also sure that I stated at one point or another that Megidramon consists of both Takato's anger and his primal instincts. But if I didn't say anything, then I apologize.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.2

The rookie Digimon gave a small squeak when she felt the life being hugged out of her but she had anticipated that reaction seeing as how she was going to have to leave her tamer to save Zhuqiaomon's life. Suzie cried as she held her partner closer to her body. Lopmon could barely speak due to the tamer hugging her so hard. "Please, Suzie. You have to let me do this. This is important." "No!!" 

In the background, an argument was taking place. "Forget it!! I will not accept help from a human and a traitor Digimon!!" Baihumon gave an irritated sigh. "You were able to swallow your damn pride when you let Azulongmon's chosen and the tamers cross over into the Eastern Realm. What's wrong this time?"

Shibumi checked the monitor, provided for him by the Digi Gnomes, that monitored the phoenix's life signs. He had been able to request a few things from them since Azulongmon told him about the function that the Digi Gnomes serve. Unfortunately, the repairs required to reverse the degradation inside Zhuqiaomon were beyond even their capability so he could not ask for that. "If we're going to have a shot at saving Zhuqiaomon's life, we have to start soon!" Gennai gave a small sigh. "We know but we're talking about having a little girl give up someone close to her to save someone else she doesn't really know. That's a difficult choice to make."

"Suzie, try to think about the situation like this." Lopmon quickly remembered to when introductions were made and it was revealed that Shibumi was one of the key contributors to creating Digimon. "The other man is like a daddy to all of us Digimon. The big bird, turtle, beast and dragon are like the eldest children who have to care for the family when mommy and daddy are unable to do so. You told me yourself…once your mommy was sick and your daddy was away on a special trip. Your older brothers and sister took care of the family. In this case, the entire family consists of the Digimon living in four digital worlds. And they need the four Sovereigns to keep them safe. You wouldn't want the digital world to feel unsafe, no?" Suzie slowly whispered a 'no'.

"If I do this, then that means that the Sovereigns can protect the digital world from anything that's evil. Suzie…I won't be gone forever. Maybe we can meet again…it's possible that I can be reborn as a little baby back in Primary Village but it would be some time before that happens." Suzie gave a small sniffle as she looked at her partner. "Will you weally come back?" Now this caused Lopmon to become uncomfortable as the chances of her coming back are not favourable. But the Sovereigns would do whatever they could to bring her back to Suzie. Surely they can find a way.

"Not right away but the Sovereigns would try to help me come back. I don't know how they can do it but they'll find a way. So will you let me help Zhu…er, the big birdy?" There was a long and uncomfortable silence that followed. Then the little girl walked up with her Digimon in front of the four Sovereigns. "Pwease bwing her back soon." There were tears in her eyes as she spoke this.

Zhuqiaomon was stunned that both the human and her Digimon would want to do this. Ebonwumon bowed both of his heads. "We are forever in your debt, wee lass. You have our word that little Lopmon will come back soon." Baihumon looked at the phoenix. "I hope that you will remember this day…the day that a human saved your life along with a so-called traitor Digimon."

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"Just how on earth were we able to do that?" The rush of adrenaline had died down in Gallantmon as his senses slowly came back to him. GCM was still breathing heavily but gave the question some thought. "Perhaps this is the ultimate benefit of quantum bio-merging. The ability to use the full power of the Hazard." A blank look came from the other holy knight. "The symbol on Guilmon's chest?"

As the four flew over to see whether they had destroyed Daemon or not, Shadowgallantmon snorted. "That sucks!! Why can't we just have access to the full power of the Hazard in individual form?!?" GCM crossed his arms as he glared at the dark knight. "No individual entity should have access to that type of power. Not you…not Megidramon…not even myself or Gallantmon." "Are you saying that because of that saying that 'power corrupts', Casanova?"

"In a way…and why do you insist on calling me Casanova?" The dark knight just stared at the crimson knight as he had been asked 'why are you evil?'. "Gee, I don't really know. Maybe it's because of the formal way you speak, think and act? Especially when it comes to women!! You said that you would not harm a lady even if she were giving you a severe ass kicking!! Also, the Gallant part in the name we…share technically means ladies' man and you, Casanova, fit the description."

"But gallant also means brave as well. Perhaps that was what he was thinking when he created the original form…" They arrived at where Daemon was last seen but saw nothing. GCM frowned. "He's still out there…we would have been able to see some residual data patterns if he was killed." Shadowgallantmon grinned underneath his helmet. "Looks like  demon hunting season has come upon us…okay, dragon breath. Sniff out the demon." This earned him a snarl of annoyance from Megidramon.

"If we're going after him again, then I should rendez-vous with Rika and the others to pick up Grani," stated Gallantmon. The crimson knight gave him a look. "You do realize that you can't graft with him since your individual data pattern is in a fragile state." Gallantmon nodded. "Yeah but at least I can have more speed and manoeuvrability in the air along with new attacks and increased attack power." After thinking about that for a moment, GCM agreed. "Point taken." 

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"Why are you running? It's so pointless…" Sakuyamon flew at top speed in a random direction, hoping to find a haven to silence the voices. "JUST SHUT UP!!!" Imperialdramon was quite amazed at how much effort he had to put into keeping up with the shaman Digimon. He had changed back to his other form and was carrying all the Digidestined children. Justimon had decided to tag along for the ride and conserve energy.

"What do you think happened to her?" asked Yolei with concern evident in her voice. Justimon thought hard about how to approach the situation. "We can figure that out later. I'm more worried about what to do when we catch up to her. She looks so unstable. And it happened right after she received this new power."

Ken voiced his thoughts. "This could probably be related to Grani's disappearance. We haven't seen it since the battle." Cody narrowed his eyes before giving a frustrated sigh. "I just wish we knew more about Grani and what it's capable of doing. Gennai should have given us something when we were at his house." 

"Even if we knew about the risks and everything, she would have still gone through with whatever we did. We were getting beaten by Reapermon and he wasn't even trying very hard. In the end, she's paying the price for obtaining a new power to bail us out." TK clenched his right fist. "I hate times like these…being helpless and unable to help those you care for." "We can all relate to that, TK," murmured Davis softly, not even noticing that he got the other boy's name right.

"I think she's slowing down!! It's about time too…I'm getting wiped out!!" Imperialdramon set himself down after going over the last hill overlooking a crystal lake. The shaman Digimon was sprawled out near the edge of the water, with the waves splashing her boots. Justimon ran over to her as soon as Imperialdramon let everybody down. He could still hear her breathing but the fact that she wasn't thrashing around when he was this close indicated that there was something very wrong. "Damn…I want to help you but how?"

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When she found herself back in the dreamscape representing her mind, she was sitting on a chair and dressed in her normal outfit. Two other females were with her. One looked exactly like her but wore a skull and crossbones jacket while the other one wore a traditional Japanese kimono. "Great…you're so weak that you won't even move when Mr. Perfect is in close proximity to you." "Well…she has only exhausted herself in an effort to keep us quiet."

The Digimon Queen gave a cold glare at the entity representing compassion. "Who asked you for your opinion? I don't even understand why you exist at all. You're the last thing she needed. Compassion is weakness and is what misguides judgment. How can you exist when she understands that basic concept?" Princess Sakuya placed a gentle hand on the other Rika's head. "I exist because she has accepted that compassion is important and can help guide her in places where you cannot. She understands when compassion is needed and when your cold attitude is preferable for the situation."

Rika just stared at her two doppelgangers before making a guess at who they were. "Princess Sakuya…you bound yourself to my life force, didn't you?" The other female nodded. Then the Digimon Queen blinked once at this revelation. "Wait just a minute!! You are supposed to represent compassion but now you reveal yourself to be Princess Sakuya as well?"

"I'm a fusion of both the soul of Princess Sakuya and the growing compassion that is slowly rising in your heart." The princess smiled gently. Rika turned to face her other counterpart. "And by the way you're acting, you're the Digimon Queen." A cold smirk was on the Digimon Queen's face. "At least some of your brain cells are still functioning."

"I don't understand this…I carried both of you throughout my life but I've never been truly able to talk to you, face to face like this! How…where's Renamon? I've got to make sure that she's okay!!" She wanted to get up from her chair and look around the surroundings. The Digimon Queen frowned. "Just what do you think you're doing? There's no way to determine whether Renamon is fine or not…" Rika just sat back down, more depressed than ever.

"You're breaking down over your partner! My God, what is wrong with you?!? When are you going to wake up to the fact that she's just a stepping stone to get you in a higher place in the world? Sure, you could say that coming into existence at all is pretty high by itself. But that's not good enough. The only way for the rest of the world to acknowledge your existence is to prove that you are the supreme tamer…" Princess Sakuya had a small look of confusion. "What do you mean coming into existence is high by itself?"

The other girl rolled her eyes. "You haven't figured it out yet? Think back to mom's last birthday. She was…how old? Twenty seven. And you were at the age of eleven. That means mom got pregnant when she was sixteen. By that age, she shouldn't have been thinking about having kids. But she was majorly head over heels for dad. If she just stopped for a moment and thought about what she was doing before jumping into bed right away, then she would have had her dear boyfriend use protection. So technically…you were an accident!!!" A look of horror went across Rika's face. 

Sakuya blinked in surprise at the Digimon Queen's outburst. "I can't believe that you would simply accept the fact that her coming into existence was purely accidental." The Digimon Queen then gave a cynical laugh. "You are absolutely hilarious, did you know that? You actually believe that when mom and dad screwed like rabbits, the purpose of them having sex was to create her and us in the process? No…when they decided to have sex, they were just interested in pleasuring each other. The last thing on their minds was to have a child."

Rika shuddered slightly as she remembered having that train of thought less than a year ago when she still had that icy attitude. Sakuya thought about how to respond. "True but they probably had intentions to have a child later. The problem is that you are only presenting one aspect of the truth. Although the conception was an accident, they still decided to go through with the process when they could have done an abortion. Mother and father had truly loved her…although I cannot explain why father left after a few years. But I suppose it was because of that event when she created you to wear as a mask and hide her true personality. To avoid getting hurt again." 

The Digimon Queen snorted. "But that's stupid. Hiding behind things to avoid getting hurt…pain is a part of life and you can't escape from it. You just have to deal with it and move on. And you can also try and ditch the whole 'love makes the world go round' philosophy because that is such an easy way to make a mess out of things. I mean…look at what happened with dad. I'm surprised he actually stuck around for this long but he finally woke up and realized that love is not enough to deal with reality. You have to face the fundamental fact. Life will become way too screwed up for the relationship with goggle head to keep going. God, why did you decide to take up this romance in the first place?"

She paused for a moment to let this sink in before continuing. "As pleasant as love looks, it has more than its share of thorns. There are divorces and separations going on each day, creating a lot of misery for a lot of people other than the two who had been romantically involved. Love can also generate so many negative aspects as well like jealousy, bitterness and even hatred." Rika thought about what her counterpart had said. "Renamon said that the rewards were far greater than the risk when pursuing love. So just what exactly do I have with Takato? Real love or a stupid crush?

Sakuya smiled gently. "I believe that you two share a powerful love. It feels like the bond that I had shared with my husband during our time together. We are fortunate that we have found our significant others." Eventually, the Digimon Queen got sick to her stomach hearing all of this. "You actually believed that Ninigi was actually a really great guy? I don't know who is worse…her or you."

"What would you know about my husband?" Rika was about to ask how the Digimon Queen knew about Ninigi and his relationship with Princess Sakuya but then she remembered how she eagerly dove into Japanese mythology to avoid shopping with her mother. "I know that he refused to marry your sister Iwanaga because she was unbelievably ugly. All the legends agree about that particular fact. This means he only cares about outer beauty and is shallow. And what about when he was suspicious that you weren't carrying his child when you were pregnant? Talk about a guy who's worse than dad…"

She easily remembered that moment when she promised him that she would burn the house when she gave birth to ensure that the babies were indeed his. "It is unethical for a man to have more than one wife. You have to take into account that Ninigi was the grandson of Amaterasu and was a divine being. He does not have any extensive knowledge about marriage and had insecurities." Rika blinked when she heard Sakuya mention that her husband was a divine being. "How did he become mortal?"

Sakuya thought about that for a moment. "Apparently my sister Iwanaga had something to do with it. My father believed that she represented immortality and long life and that I represented prosperity and that was why he asked Ninigi to marry us both. Perhaps it was that…or something else. I do not know. But this is why the emperors of Japan have always been mortal." 

Then she gave a cold look to the Digimon Queen, who simply crossed her arms. "Say what you wish about me but do not use your wicked tongue to dishonour my husband." The other girl just gave a smirk. "Whatever." But the smirk vanished when she saw Sakuya give her an icy look which was just as cold as her own.

It was rather disturbing for Rika to see that the entity representing compassion had another side of her which was similar to the Digimon Queen. "Rika? Rika, can you hear me?" She blinked once as she recognized that voice. "Takato?" The Digimon Queen frowned. "What in the hell is goggle head doing here?"

And that wraps up another chapter. I had planned on doing more but then I decided to make a last minute revision to the chapter outline. Since reading week is next week for me, I should be able to get out another chapter, providing that I finish my essay. 

See you on the other side. 


	23. Third Arc, Episode III

Author's Notes: Reading week has started. I've borrowed some Discworld novels to read over the week while I write my essay and this story. By the way, there will be an epilogue after Ascension and in that epilogue, I will finally tie up the ultimate loose end in the story and explain how the Digimon tamers arrived in the Eastern realm in the first place. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. The term 'buttweasel' originated from InQuest Gamer…I think.

Ascension – V 3.3

"Just where exactly are we going to meet up with the others? They think that you're still back at Gennai's house, recuperating…" GCM trailed off when he noticed that Megidramon was sniffing the air for a scent. Shadowgallantmon gave a chuckle. "When all else fails, just follow the nose. Remind me to get him a doggy treat if we do meet up with the others. I've got to see how the others will react when they see this. That ought to make for some interesting entertainment."

Now technically, Megidramon is naturally born without patience. When this new situation was explained in layman's terms by GCM, he had to try not to hit the dark knight, no matter how infuriating he may be. But one can only take so much. Before the others knew it, the dragon threw a punch and hit Shadowgallantmon's chest. Gallantmon felt the breath knocked out of him while GCM slightly winced. Megidramon also felt the pain but it felt pretty damn good when he hit the dark knight. "That's it, punk!! I'm taking you out!!!" GCM moved in between the two and whipped out his weapons with the tip of his staff against the dragon's throat and the blade of his sword inches away from the dark knight's head. 

"Enough. Both of you. Megidramon, keep trying to find the others. As for you, do us all a favour and keep your mouth shut!!" The crimson knight's acidic tone had not gone unnoticed by the other two virus Digimon. Megidramon returned to the task at hand while the dark knight simply grumbled to himself. Gallantmon gave a cough. "Ouch…Megidramon can really pack a punch."

"Now the important thing is getting Grani. You can't stay and explain all of their questions. Just give them a quick explanation and then move out of there. We'll stay concealed and follow you when you leave." The group then flew in silence as Megidramon kept sniffing the air for a scent. Eventually, they found themselves over by a large cliff overlooking an ocean. Gallantmon blinked. "I can hear the voices of the others!!" 

"You better get going. The three of us will remain here…hey!!" GCM stopped the dragon who had wanted to check up on Rika. While Gallantmon leapt down to join the others, GCM struggled to restrain Megidramon. "Don't even think of going down there!!" Shadowgallantmon shrugged. "I'm not interested in making them piss their pants…not yet anyways. Besides, watching you try and restrain dragon breath is more entertaining."

"Well if you're just going to stand there, will you help me restrain our primitive counterpart here?" Shadowgallantmon just gave a blank look indicating that he did not really care. GCM sighed. "You really are a buttweasel, did you know that?" At this remark, the dark knight blinked as a small sweatdrop appeared. "Uh…right." 'Buttweasel?' (AN: Happy, Alex?)

The Digidestined gave gasps of surprise when they saw Gallantmon land on the ground. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be back at Gennai's house resting?" asked Kari. The holy knight didn't answer her and went straight to the unconscious Sakuyamon, who was being held up by Justimon. "What happened to her? Why is she red instead of yellow?"

"I don't know. It could have been something to do with Grani or something else. All I know is that she gained some new powers. After killing Reapermon, she started to totally lose it!!" Justimon passed the shaman Digimon over to Gallantmon who knelt down by her side. 'Did she really fuse with Grani? What did he mean when he said that she was losing it?' "Rika? Rika, can you hear me?"

When Rika heard his voice, a small wave of comfort passed over her. The Digimon Queen narrowed her eyes. "What in the hell is goggle head doing here?" Sakuya had a gentle look on her face. "You had better go to him." Rika gave a small nod as she focused on returning to reality. But it was hard to get back up. And oddly painful. She could feel that her body was being stretched and pulled in all directions.

"Takato…?" She found herself in the arms of a white knight…wait. How could that be possible? She wanted to ask him more questions but he beat her to it. "Did you fuse with Grani?" She nodded weakly. Gallantmon gave a mental groan. 'This could be troublesome.' "You've got to separate yourself from Grani. Focus on expelling the data from out of your system and the rest should take care of itself."

She started to focus whatever energy she had left into the separation sequence. The others gave her some room as they noticed red particles of data leave her body. The red armour eventually turned back to yellow. As soon as all the red particles were out of her body, they all came together to reconstruct the machine. Gallantmon placed the shaman Digimon down gently and turned his attention to the machine. "Grani!! Are you alright?" The machine gave a reply. "All systems appear to be in normal parameters including my grafting function." 

Sakuyamon sat up. "Are you kidding me?!? When I grafted with you, I started to hear voices in my head!!" Ken looked at the glider. "So that's what you did? I thought that you were meant only for Takato over there. Does that mean that you could graft yourself on to any Digimon?" It beeped once and Minomon delivered the message. "Yep." Imperialdramon had transformed back into Demiveemon and Minomon a moment ago.

Davis brightened up. "Hey!! Maybe that could give Imperialdramon a power boost to get him to become Paladin Mode again!! Or something like that!!" Yolei rolled her eyes. "You just can't let go of Imperialdramon in Paladin Mode, can you?" The leader for the Digidestined shrugged. "Well, he is pretty cool when he's like that."

"Renamon? Are you alright?" Silence went by for a moment before her partner was able to give an answer. "Yes. I do not know what had happened in the last few minutes though. One moment, we were battling Reapermon…my mind shut down for some reason and now we're here. What did happen?" Rika gave a small sigh of relief. "I'll have to tell you later. Right now, I've got something to do."

"Are you sure your graft program is alright? Rika was hearing voices in her head…or so she says." The machine started to beep a few times, saying that it did not have an explanation to what had transpired inside the female tamer's head. Gallantmon was about to think some more about the subject when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to find Sakuyamon. "We need to talk."

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"How is it possible that ArcaDemon is still standing up? It doesn't make sense unless he's not a virus Digimon. But my Digivice says otherwise…" After ArcaDemon had digivolved to mega, he took out Megagargomon in one hit and forced them to change back to tamer and Digimon. Henry took out an Imperialdramon Paladin Mode card from his deck. "If I remember correctly, Zero's ability cuts the power of all virus Digimon fighting him in half. Why isn't it working?"

Terriermon offered his thoughts. "Because ArcaDemon has been taking a ton of steroids and is a massively strong viral son of a bitch!!" He blinked when he received a glare from his tamer. "What? It seems like that's a plausible explanation for why this guy is so strong!!" The boy just shook his head as he focused back on the battle. It would be some time until his partner is feeling well enough to bio-merge again. He checked his D terminal to see if he had missed anything.

Taichi wiped some sweat off his face as he scanned his notebook. "There's got to be something in here that can turn the tide of the battle around!!" Neo gave a psychotic laugh. "There is no way you can defeat me now!! My victory is at hand!!" ArcaDemon and Zero were deadlocked in battle.

"This isn't going well. Taichi!! I could really use an idea about how to beat this guy!!" More sweat rolled down the tamer's face. 'If I knew a way to beat this guy, then I would share it with my partner. But Neo is a sharp guy and has made sure that ArcaDemon has covered every single angle!! That means this battle has become a race to see who can fight the longest…'

Another hit later and ArcaDemon was on his back. Zero leaned on his sword to try and catch a breather. "Get up, ArcaDemon!! We are not going to lose to these third rate trash tamers!!!" Zero was trying to focus his remaining energy into a final attack to finish the other Digimon. "Taichi!! We got a problem!! Rika's gone insane and is flying around the digital world with a new power at her control!!"

"And that could mean trouble…Zero, revert back to your dragon form!! We've got to find the others and help Rika out!!" Zero complied happily as using his Paladin form was draining much of his energy. At least in his lower mega form, he could conserve a small bit of energy. Neo took this opportunity to yell an order to ArcaDemon. "Attack them now!!"

But the virus Digimon had little energy to try and pursue the retreating tamers. "I do not have sufficient power to do so, Neo." The white haired tamer growled as he saw Imperialdramon fly away. "The next time we meet, we will finish this once and for all!! Do you hear me?!? I will claim victory and you will taste defeat!!!"

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"Why are we moving over to that side?" hissed Shadowgallantmon. GCM had to be careful while moving in order to stay silent and to keep Megidramon from doing anything rash. "If we had stayed here, our position may have been compromised. The Digidestined and Justimon have to simply look at a spot from a certain angle and we will have been discovered."

The dark knight snorted as he silently kept behind the crimson knight. "That's not it. I know what your real intentions are, Casanova. Rika's stressed out and the little private discussion that she's having with dork face down there may change some things between them. I say you're more worried about our associate's emotional state after the talk." GCM just kept observing what was happening down below.

"Look…if you're wondering how I was able to bio-merge then all I can say is that I have no clue. All I know is that it just happened when I was in danger. That reminds me, how come you haven't transformed back yet? Anyways, I've got to get going with Grani soon because…" Sakuyamon held up a hand to stop the holy knight from babbling further. "Renamon is going to check out about the transforming thing but we can talk about that later. I just want to talk about us for a moment. During that time when I had to talk to the other voices, I had to figure out where we were going and…I don't think I can keep on going like this. We should just stop having this relationship before we end up breaking each other's hearts."

Up above, the dark knight crowed with delight. "Hah!!! I knew it!! She's dumping him!! So much for your devotion to your dear lady!!" This earned him a glare from both the crimson knight and the dragon. But Shadowgallantmon just snorted in response. "What? Can't handle the truth?" However the crimson knight's concerns were focused on something else. 'She would have transformed back to normal seeing as there is no current crisis. There's something not right here…' (AN: The trio are up above on a lower elevation, crouched to the ground to avoid detection. That along with sharpened hearing has enabled them to pick up the conversation.)

"So are you saying that you don't love me anymore?" asked Gallantmon in a rather nervous tone. The shaman Digimon just clenched her staff in frustration. "Yes!! No…I don't know!! I'm just not sure of anything anymore. There are so many other things in my life that I have to experience and live through…assuming that I get through this first. And what makes you so confident that things can last between us?"

Gallantmon's eyes softened. "I can understand where you're coming from, Rika. You haven't lived with faith for…I really have no idea how long you've lived without faith. In any case, I promised to carry enough faith for the both of us. I won't leave you like your father did…" He didn't get much of a reaction from Sakuyamon so he gently grasped her shoulders. The holy knight took a breath before speaking again. "Remember back at home when we started off on this whole relationship thing? We weren't exactly sure what to do since we had never done this before." She gave a small nod. "Yeah…I remember."

Knowing that she remembered, he continued on with his statement. "I said that we should just be ourselves and go from there. But you were still insecure since you haven't exactly been the nicest person back then. You kept thinking that you should try and change in order to get along with others more easily or something like that. At that point, I made a promise to you. I promised that I would be patient with you while you tried to find yourself. If you needed to crash and burn a few times before finding the person you wanted to be, then I would be there helping you to stand up and try again." She just gave him a shocked look. "Why would you do all this?"

"Because I love you. I can't explain it in great detail but seeing you happy gives me immense joy and seeing you sad gives me great sorrow." It was almost a childish explanation but it was enough to make Rika feel even guiltier than ever before. The next thing she knew, she was holding on to the holy knight like he was her lifeline. Gallantmon could feel her body shaking as she silently sobbed. 

The moment was interrupted by the sound of clapping. "Where is that coming from?" asked Cody. That question was soon answered when he heard a familiar and chilling voice. "Bravo, dork face!! You just set a new record for the number of times you made me sick to my stomach!!" As the attention of the Digidestined and the others were focused on the trio up above, the only thought that ran through GCM's mind was 'oh, bugger.' (AN: The term bugger belongs to Terry Pratchett)

Shadowgallantmon just chuckled. "Now I see where you get all your romance moves from. Dork face down there is a natural at making girls all sappy and emotional!!" GCM just looked at him and proceeded to smack him lightly on the head. "You sir, are a smeghead." The dark knight rolled his eyes. "And you, Casanova, have got to learn how to insult someone properly. Wait a second…you called me sir!! What the hell?!?" By that time, the crimson knight had let go of Megidramon and joined the others down by the beach.

That wraps up this installment. Anyways, Rika's inner demons have not been fully resolved and I will get down to doing something again with Sakuya and the Digimon Queen. I also figured out where I want to go from here…sort of. It will be some time before the epilogue takes place so stay tuned. Last but not least…to all Rukato fans, please don't kill me. All I'm doing is justifying why they got together in the first place. I think that's it for now so see you on the other side!


	24. Third Arc, Episode IV

Author's Notes: I also forgot to mention that the term smeghead belongs to whoever created the science fiction classic "Red Dwarf". But I'm sure a lot of you knew where that term came from but anyways. On with chapter 24! 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.4

As Millenniumon focused on making the preparations for the work coming up ahead, he kept an eye on the events running in the real world. It was a shame that Reapermon had been killed but the new development had enabled him to safely extract the tower in the Eastern Realm. And with the only being who knows how to dismantle the towers having no access to interdimensional transport, he will be able to safely extract the other three towers without much of a problem.

There is still the matter of the one who unlocked the powers in the Dark Spore. The one called Daemon. Millenniumon had not been worried at first when Daemon was running around with his spore. But when he noticed certain traces of code within the demon lord Digimon, his attention had shifted. Now he had to postpone his plans of vengeance and chaos to deal with this growing nuisance.

'Daemon recognizes his weaknesses against those with holy strength on their side and now he has to find some way to overcome them. If he can access the hidden code that lies dormant…then his power level will rise again and he may become as strong as me in my final form. No matter. As soon as I reconstruct my body, my first priority is to delete him at once.' Slowly, the four towers appeared and landed on their predetermined positions. 

The dark god Digimon started to focus his energy and began the conversion process. Immediately, the towers burst into data, the very data that he will use to create his new body. He smiled to himself. 'It will take some time before it is fully powered and ready for me to occupy. However time is on my side…'

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Daemon struggled to regain his senses right after he stepped out of that portal. Apparently, he had landed in some sort of forest but he was still in the same digital world as he did not focus on transporting to another dimension. 'That accursed knight and his comrades have set everything back. Now it's going to take more time to fulfill my conquest especially without my minions.' He tore off the rest of his tattered cloak before making plans on what to do next. "Wow, Gomamon!! You actually found it!!" He blinked once as he heard the voice. It came from the opposite direction.

By the edge of the forest was a river, where he saw four rookie Digimon together. "Did you have any doubts, Biyomon? Gatomon is going to be thrilled that we found her tail ring!!" This caught the demon lord Digimon's interest. If he recalled correctly, what made Gatomon a fierce Digimon to be reckoned with was the fact that the tail ring was a strength amplifier. But not even the kitty knew that there was more to that tail ring than meets the eye.

"Actually, it was pure luck that you found that tail ring at all. Your original intention was to go fishing and…" Tentomon trailed off when he saw a giant shadow tower over all four of them. Palmon and Biyomon were shocked at how ugly the Digimon was. "Who is that guy anyway? I haven't seen him around in any area!!" exclaimed the plant Digimon.

A gigantic blast later and all four Digimon were thrown back against several rocks. Tentomon was the first to get up. "That really hurt!! Super Shocker!!" Even after hitting the target, the behemoth still kept coming towards them. "Uh…guys!! A little help here?!?" The other three fought the pain and focused on attacking the Digimon. "Spiral Twister!!" "Poison Ivy!!" "Marching Fishes!!"

"Evil Inferno!!" Daemon single-handedly countered all three attacks with his own. Not only that but he sent the other three Digimon flying off into the distance. He then noticed that the tail ring had been dropped by Gomamon. 'Yes…you will do nicely in finishing my ascension to godhood.' As soon as he touched it, he was forced to pull his hand back as the ring shocked him. 

'Accursed holy energy…' He knew that what he was going to do would be most difficult. If he fails in taming the ring, then he would surely disintegrate. However if he succeeds, not only will he get rid of his weakness against holy energy but he will be able to regain the lost powers that had lain dormant since the birth of the first Daemon. Summoning all of his willpower, he grabbed the ring and placed it on his middle finger. Soon, the forest erupted in a burst of light and echoed with his screams of agony.

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When Sakuyamon heard Shadowgallantmon shout in disgust over what Gallantmon was doing, she had expected that the holy knight would be a little unnerved that his dark counterpart had returned to complete his task and load his data. To her surprise, the holy knight had an annoyed look in his eyes. Her surprise grew even bigger when she noticed Megidramon and Gallantmon Crimson Mode flying down towards them. There was only one thing she could do at a time like this.

As Justimon and the Digidestined moved over to where the two red Digimon were landing, they noticed the shaman Digimon yank the holy knight towards her in a rough manner. "Okay, goggle head. Start talking." He gave a nervous laugh. "It's a real funny and long story and I don't think there's enough time to…" Whatever warm and fuzzy feelings that he had shared with her were long gone as she stated her next words in a cold tone. "Make time."

Her interrogation was cut short when Megidramon started to get close to her. Thankfully, the dragon was not able to understand what she had told Gallantmon earlier and so in his mind, they are still mates. Before he got too close, GCM cut in. "I must apologize for all the confusion that we have brought to you and the others. I hope that you can forgive us." Before she could give an answer, he knelt on one knee and gently pressed his forehead against her knuckles. The only thought running through her head at that moment was 'what the hell is going on here?!?'

Gallantmon blinked. "Why are you apologizing? It was blabber mouth up there who blew your cover." As soon as he said that, the dark knight leapt off the ledge and performed a few mid air summersaults before landing heavily on his feet. "I heard that, dork face. I suppose it's good to know that you're starting to develop some balls."  

While the two knights started a glaring contest, Davis was the first to voice his thoughts on the situation unfolding before them. "This is really creepy!! Almost like the Twilight Zone or something!!" Ken took this moment to give Ryo a quick warning. "Shadowgallantmon is a powerful force to be reckoned with. You better keep your guard up." Justimon gave a small nod.

Cody studied the situation carefully before making an observation.  "Odd…Shadowgallantmon seems to be acting strange. He's not being extremely aggressive or trying to upload Gallantmon's data. What's with that?" GCM got up and answered that question a moment later, diverting his attention from Sakuyamon. "Due to some unusual circumstances, Shadowgallantmon has been reduced from a diabolical and ruthless arch nemesis to an annoying character…"

Both knights stopped glaring at each other with the dark knight now ticked off at the crimson knight's comments and the other holy knight making a statement. "Like Terriermon?" "Hey, I resent that!!" The group looked up to see Taichi, Henry, Terriermon and a worn out Zero, who had changed back to champion form, running up to them. Taichi was the first to speak. "It was lucky that Zero spotted you together from high up and…what in the world?!?" The four just received a shock when noticing Shadowgallantmon, GCM, Gallantmon and Megidramon all assembled with the others.

GCM crossed his arms. "Good. Now that everyone's together, except for Suzie and Gennai, I'll make this brief. During an encounter with Armageddemon outside Gennai's house, Takato activated a new bio-merge program. Quantum Bio-Merge Digivolution. The result of that was that each persona within Takato's essence became a physical entity of its own. There are benefits and drawbacks to this condition. One such drawback, in Megidramon's case, is a smaller size." Regardless of the smaller size, Henry still felt quite uneasy being in front of the dragon Digimon. Shadowgallantmon snorted. "Enough of this chatter. I'm still hungry for Daemon's data and I want to resume the hunt as soon as possible."

Megidramon poked his head up when Daemon was mentioned from the dark knight. He gave a growl, indicating that he was still interested in finding the demon lord and biting his head off. GCM and Gallantmon just stared at them. "I don't believe this…you two actually agreed on something?" Shadowgallantmon rolled his eyes. "Technically, dragon breath didn't say that he agreed. He just remembered what we were doing before seeing her again."

"You were going after Daemon?!? Are you nuts?!? I mean with what's happening and…this is all so insane!!" shouted Henry. GCM understood his friend's concern. "We are already aware of our limitations and weaknesses while in this form. We will deal with Daemon while you should go back to Gennai's house to rest for a while. Once we have rid the digital world of the demon, we will rejoin you and figure out a solution to recombine us into one being if the Sovereigns cannot do something about this problem." Before Sakuyamon could voice an objection to the plan, GCM took a small bow. "I bid thee all farewell until next time."

He then turned to the shaman Digimon. "Do not fret, my lady. I will make every effort to make sure that things turn out all right. However if this is the last time that I am in presence of great beauty, then I shall leave a parting gift." To everyone's surprise, even his three counterparts who have still not figured out what part of Takato he represented, he took Sakuyamon's hand and planted a gentle kiss on it, after willing his face helmet to dematerialize. Shadowgallantmon rolled his eyes. "I should have seen this coming."

After the helmet reappeared, he took off into the air. Moments later, the others flew after him. Now Gallantmon was having an easier time keeping up thanks to Grani. Yolei broke the silence after the four had left. "What was that all about?" Sakuyamon quickly snapped out of her dazed state. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that they are going after Daemon and I'm going to follow them!" But as soon as she finished that sentence, she was struck by a wave of dizziness and pain.

"Rika!! Some-ng's ha-en-ng to th-" The girl could barely hear her partner's warnings as the sensations were getting much worse. A fog had started to form around the area, giving a sense of alarm to the other Digidestined and the tamers. The last thing she noticed before blacking out was the sensation that something was coming out of her.

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"Let me guess…you are the part that represents the characteristics of a MacDaddy!!" GCM ignored the last statement made by the dark knight. Shadowgallantmon frowned underneath his helmet as Megidramon kept attempting to find the scent. "Perhaps an obnoxious hero type character like in those role playing games or something. Trying to make it with the ladies and delivering justice along the way?" "Give it a rest already," grumbled Gallantmon.

GCM finally gave a reply. "Aren't all knights in fairy tales similar in the fact that they try to deliver justice and protect the innocent? Of course, this does not count evil knights who serve a ruthless warlord or something like that." Shadowgallantmon snorted. "No duh. But technically, the obnoxious hero type knights don't go around being a ladies' man. I mean, where does the fact that you won't strike a lady come from?"

Gallantmon thought about that for a moment. "I remember my mom telling me a series of bedtime stories about a knight who went around doing the types of things that we're doing. He never struck a woman and only restrained her if she was his enemy. He was also a good fighter and was extremely polite. Mom always said that real men should behave like that, with the good manners and all. I think that was what inspired me to draw up a knight figure for Guilmon's mega form. I kept thinking about being that type of character when I grow up since my mom would like that very much."

The dark knight blinked once at this revelation. Then he looked at the crimson knight ahead and started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Wait a minute…you are a manifestation of the type of person dork face wanted to be when he grew up. His vision of the character that he would have as a man." GCM looked back at the Shadowgallantmon. "That is correct. I'm surprised that you were able to pick it up so quickly." 

"So dork face based what he wanted to become when he grew up on a bedtime story?!? What the hell is wrong with you?!?" The last question was directed at the now stunned holy knight. He just looked at GCM with confusion in his eyes. "Now I'm more lost than ever. What do you mean by being a manifestation of what I want to become when I grew up?"

GCM calmly gave an explanation. "When I was formed, my personality was focused on your last thoughts concerning what type of person you wanted to become when you grow up. Until we have changed back into one being, this is how you will always see yourself as in the future. Once changed back though, my personality will change as you develop new thought patterns. Eventually, when you have passed a certain age…if there is another time that you must quantum bio-merge again, you will be in my place and a childish persona will pose as Gallantmon." 

They all heard Megidramon give a small roar and turned to see what had grabbed his attention. "Sheesh…knowing dragon breath, he's probably interested in some insignificant thing…" Shadowgallantmon trailed off when he noticed a small pillar of light coming from a direction. The dragon took a whiff of the air before snarling again. "Daemon…" The other three Digimon just looked at the dragon. 

Megidramon tapped his snout twice, his rather primitive way of saying 'the nose knows.' GCM gave a small sigh. "All right. We'll check out the source of that light. Perhaps fate will open a door for us and allow us to vanquish the demon once and for all!!" Shadowgallantmon gave a loud groan. "Would you stop talking like that?!?" 

"Hey, look!!" They all noticed four small Digimon, all of them out cold on the ground. Gallantmon narrowed his eyes. "What had happened to all of them?" GCM quickly checked their life signs. "They were all knocked out by a powerful attack of some sort. Possibly Daemon…" He looked up to see a group of Otamamon and Gekomon nearby who were inching closer to see what had happened. "Get these four to the nearest medical facility right away." Before they knew it, the three knights and the dragon took off to the area where the light was coming from.

'That light appears to be completely made out of holy energy. I can feel it in my bones.' The four Digimon tried to get closer but then the entire forest exploded as a result of the amount of energy being concentrated into one place. GCM tried to fan the smoke away as quickly as possible while Gallantmon asked Grani to try and see what was going on as he assumed that the machine had some sort of sensor equipment.

Standing several yards away from the group was a figure. And he was glowing with a type of energy that nobody had experienced before. As the smoke cleared, the group was greeted with a sight that they had never thought possible. The figure had eight demonic wings on his back and wore a black face mask with a white cross. One purple horn, spiked up, was on each side of his head, making him seem like a Viking. The rest of his body had red armour with black plates on his shoulders and various parts of his body. What shocked GCM the most was that Daemon, if this was Daemon, looked like Seraphimon with the red replacing the grey, the black replacing the blue, the angelic features gone and replaced with demonic ones and a star inscribed in a circle placed where the symbol for the Crest of Hope should be. And on his right middle finger was a ring. 

"By the great heavens…what is this monstrosity before us?" The figure then examined himself and started to chuckle with excitement. The chuckle turned out into a darker, louder laugh as he raised his arms to feel the new energy pulsing through him. He stopped as he noticed four familiar Digimon standing some distance from him. "Is that really Daemon? What the hell did he do to get a makeover like that?!?" exclaimed Shadowgallantmon.

Before they could further think of an attack plan, they noticed the new Daemon suddenly appeared right in front of them in a burst of speed. He started to crack his knuckles and move his head around in a warm up fashion. "Let's begin round two, shall we?" Megidramon charged forward to attack. Then the three knights joined him a moment later.

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There were no words to describe how Rika was feeling. Actually, the only words that came to mind was hell multiplied by a googolplex. Her body was still tingling but at least the worst part was over. "Renamon?" There was no answer. She slowly got up to her feet with the help of her staff. Then out of the blue, someone crashes into her and forces her back on to the ground. 

In her mind, she kept swearing that she was going to kill whoever did this but her body said otherwise. When she tried to get a better look, she was shocked to see herself. Or rather, the Sakuyamon who was dressed in that horrendous outfit and who had less combat power but more magic. Before she could think about this some more, she heard footsteps approaching. Rika gasped as she saw Kuzuhamon step out, with her staff aimed towards her and the other Sakuyamon. "Hold still. It'll only hurt once."

There!! I finally finished this latest chapter in spite of the fact that school is piling up. I'm pretty sure that you guessed what was happening with Rika as soon as I mentioned some things. Hopefully, I can finish up the novel soon so I can focus on a few other projects. Also, I got the Seraphimon image from examining his picture in the Digimon film that YTV showed one weekend. The way the film was presented…good grief. Fox should have just shown the films as Digimon specials on their network when they still had the show. Man, I have got to find a way to get my hands on the other four movies in their original language and stuff. See you on the other side.


	25. Third Arc, Episode V

Author's Notes: Sorry once again for the slowdown as exams are coming closer. Plus I have a lot of stuff to do like projects and tests. But I'll do what I can so don't worry too much about it. Also, Ryo fans may not like what is coming up ahead. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.5

"Damn it!! I can't see anything in there!! Where did it come from?!?" As soon as the mysterious fog had erupted out of nowhere, Justimon and the Digidestined had been forced to stay back. Yolei adjusted her glasses slightly. "It almost looks like a digital field, like the ones that we encountered in the tamers' world. Just how did one get here?"

A small drop of sweat rolled down Cody's cheek. "More importantly, what type of purpose would it serve in the digital world. From what Henry explained to us, digital fields appear whenever Digimon transport to the real world. I wonder how that's changed since one appeared in our dimension." He stopped talking when he felt Upamon shaking in his arms. "There's something really weird going on in there!!"

Kari looked around and made an observation. "All the other Digimon are reacting to some sort of stimulus, probably brought on by the digital field. Are you feeling something, Ryo?" The legendary tamer just tried to interpret the sensations running through his body. "Yeah. But I can't make heads or tails out of it. If we're going to get some answers, then I've got to go in!!" Before anyone could argue, he ran inside.

Rika has had her share of confusing situations before but this one took the cake. "What's going on? Just who is she? And who are you for that matter?" Kuzuhamon faked a look of pain. "I'm hurt. You've already forgotten me, only a few minutes after our conversation including her royal highness over there. Let me give you a hint…I quest to become the best Digimon tamer on the face of the earth and use everything else as stepping stones. Who am I?" She could barely conceal her mocking tone.

Sakuyamon gave a frown. 'Jeez…she didn't have to be too sarcastic about it. But then again, that's just the way I created that persona. If the Digimon Queen is Kuzuhamon, then that means Princess Sakuya is the other Sakuyamon.' She had already gotten up after some effort. "What do you hope to accomplish? Why are you doing this?

Kuzuhamon snorted. "I'm doing this because this is a golden opportunity. I'm tired of watching you waste your life and letting windows of opportunity fly by. What made me more upset is that you didn't seem to really care about it. After all, you had your precious goggle head as well as Renamon and the others." She slowly started to charge her weapon. 

"You just stopped caring about getting stronger and so you didn't even order Renamon to upload the data of any Digimon you had deleted in the past few months. But I'm sure you remember the fact that survival in a desolate environment depends on how strong you are. So I'm going to start doing what you should have kept doing since day one!! And I'll start by uploading the two of you!! Demon Helix!!" Both Sakuyamons leapt out of the way.

"The way I think about it, once I upload your data then everything is as it should be. We'll all be one person again and I'll be the one who will run the show. Dark Triad!!" Three black foxes flew out to attack Rika, who was partially paralyzed with fear. The priestess had started to wave her hands in an odd manner before using her own attack to deflect the attack. "Amethyst Wind!!!"  

Normally, Rika would be enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes during battle. It was that enjoyment that got her through her previous fights. Although there was some fear, it had been easily quashed by her goals to become stronger. She had always counted on the Digimon Queen persona because it represented a source of strength. But without the persona to get her through this, she was experiencing a sense of terror she hadn't felt in a long time. The last time she felt like this was when Shadowgallantmon was about to kill her.  

"Stop this at once!!" She recognized the voice. 'I never thought that I would be thankful for Ryo making an appearance.' They all looked to see Justimon run into the area. Inside his sphere, Ryo blinked in surprise. "Whoa!! Now there are three of you!! This is strange…" 'And I think I see what Terriermon meant by her being hot in that priestess outfit.' He quickly scanned all three Digimon before hearing someone shout "Demon Helix!!" The blue Digimon had fired an attack. 

The Sakuya persona shouted a warning but before Rika could respond, the ground exploded underneath her feet and she was thrown back. Kuzuhamon twirled her staff before rushing in to make the kill. But her staff was blocked by Justimon, who had morphed his right arm into his Voltage Blade. "That's enough out of you. Are you okay?" The Digimon behind him was breathing quickly. "Y-you saved my l-life…" If Justimon had a mouth, he would have smirked. "Twice, I believe."

Kuzuhamon started to laugh as the other Sakuyamon joined Justimon and her counterpart. "I can't believe this…look at you!! You actually look grateful that he saved your life!! The problem is that you didn't depend on yourself to get out of this mess. If you were able to think quickly enough, then you would have been fine. Once I'm through with you and her, that won't be a problem." 

Justimon changed his arm back to the way it was. "Alright…somebody start talking. What happened here? Why is Kuzuhamon trying to delete you? Maybe we can all work something out." The dark shaman Digimon started walking forward. "Get out of the way, Akiyama. I have a job to complete."  

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Will you actually go that far to achieve your goal? I'm certain that you have a spark of humanity in there and that you can't kill a human or a tamed Digimon. Therefore, you can't get past me," stated Justimon. Kuzuhamon stopped. "It is tempting to delete you as well and upload your partner's data. But I have a better idea."

"Like what? What can you do to me?" He felt a chill go through his body when she smiled. "I was hoping you would say that." She dashed forward in a burst of speed. Then time seemed to slow down as Kuzuhamon brought her knee up to strike the area in between Justimon's legs. Both Sakuyamons cringed as they saw the moment of impact.

'She actually rammed her knee into…oh, man. Not even Ryo deserved that type of brutal punishment.' The android Digimon collapsed and rolled up into a ball before splitting up into tamer and Digimon. Both of them had curled up into a ball. Ryo and Monodramon were making tiny whispers and it mostly consisted of 'Damn, that hurts!!' and 'Ouch!!' Kuzuhamon gave a small smile. "Wow…that felt great!! Now for the two of you." 

"He may have been an obnoxious person but I believe that-" Rika started to shout at the priestess. "No time!! Move!!" They started to leap further out of the fog with Kuzuhamon staying right behind. Ryo opened his eyes slightly before he saw a silhouette hover above him, as if it is checking to make sure that he is alright. Satisfied, the silhouette leapt out and followed the other three Digimon. 

It was strange how the silhouette was shaped like Sakuyamon. Why was that? How did all these other Digimon appear at once? He had no more time to think about this as the Digidestined made their appearance. "Ryo!! Are you alright?" asked Davis. The only response he got from the legendary tamer was a loud groan. "That obviously answers your question. Where did Rika go?" asked TK.

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Daemon quickly shifted to the right as Megidramon went by. Gallantmon used Grani's firepower to attack in hopes of catching Daemon off guard. "Yuggoth Blaster!!" The demonic Digimon did an aerial back flip, with the attack flying over his body. "Dragon Driver!!" After recovering from the flip, he struck the holy knight, making him fall off of the glider. Grani immediately flew down to catch Gallantmon.

"Obsidian Lance!!" "Invincible Sword!!" Daemon saw the two weapons aimed for his solar plexus and so he used both arms to deflect the attacks before flipping forward over the two stunned knights and landing on the ground. The invigoration given by the ring was just as good if not better than the invigorating power given by the Dark Spore. "Oh, come now. Surely you can do better than this!!"

The four Digimon quickly regrouped and landed on the ground. "We have to coordinate ourselves better if we're going to stand a chance against him!" exclaimed Gallantmon. Shadowgallantmon rolled his eyes. "No duh, Sherlock. We'll have to keep up a two-pronged attack. Strike at different areas and divide his attention. That's the way to victory and to our prize. Let's go!!" 

Both he and Gallantmon charged forward and attacked directly with their lances. While Daemon grabbed them, GCM and Megidramon leapt up above to strike the demon. Daemon immediately let go of the two lances in order to dodge backwards but Shadowgallantmon and Gallantmon were waiting for him. 

The holy knight combined Grani's Yuggoth Blaster and his Final Elysian while the dark knight focused a condensed Demon's Disaster on Daemon. GCM grinned underneath his helmet. "Excellent!! Everyone, prepare to strike while Daemon is disoriented!!" Their thoughts of victory dissipated when they heard a loud cough from the smoke. "Oh, bugger!!"

They all saw Daemon brushing the dust off of his red armour. "Bravo. You actually got in a hit and dirtied my armour." He continued to examine himself, ignoring his four opponents. Gallantmon narrowed his eyes. "If we're going to stand a chance of beating him, we've got to try and hit him with the Hazard Crush Blow. But it's not like he's going to stand there and take the attack head on."

GCM nodded. "True. We have to fire it when he least suspects it. I will try and distract him…perhaps some of my attacks can still have an effect on him. You three prepare yourselves and once he's off guard, I will join you and we will use the Hazard Crush Blow to finish him off!" Shadowgallantmon gave a small growl. "Some plan, Casanova. But considering that I can't think of anything at the moment, I'll go along. Now how do we convince dragon breath not to do anything rash?"

"I can try and take him along as well. He can also provide additional distraction. Megidramon, you're with me!" The dragon Digimon just ignored the crimson knight and charged Daemon again. GCM followed him and raised his weapon. "Prepare to be struck down by my sword of righteousness!! Final Justice!!" Daemon simply raised a left hand and caught the weapon. "You have no idea how much that holy defender of justice crap irritates me."

"Megido Flame!!" He tossed the crimson knight aside and blocked the flame attack. Megidramon then tried to tackle Daemon and use his superior strength but it was of little use as moments later, he landed right beside GCM. "Yuggoth Blaster!!" He had no time to dodge it as the attack paralyzed him. 'What is this?!?'

Gallantmon grinned underneath his helmet. "I think I was able to slow him down!! Everyone start focusing on creating the attack!!" GCM and Megidramon got up quickly and rejoined the dark knight as well as the holy knight. 'This attack is trying to eat away at my data. But it will find that is difficult to do, especially with my superior powers!!' Daemon started to concentrate to break himself free but he noticed that the four Digimon had assembled into a position in the air and that they were all glowing with a crimson red aura.

"HAZARD CRUSH BLOW!!!"

A thick beam of energy shaped like the Hazard symbol erupted from the four Digimon. Moments later, a gigantic red ball of energy was blinding them to seeing whether they had defeated Daemon or not. GCM was muttering to himself. "May we be forgiven for what had to be done." Shadowgallantmon gave him a strange look. "What's eating you, Casanova?"

"I fear that the damage done by our attack to the digital world may be permanent. When we fired, the beam was big enough to hit Daemon and a fair amount of land down below." When the crimson knight didn't hear the dark knight give one of his usual snappy replies, he noticed that his attention was focused on something else. GCM started to focus on what Shadowgallantmon was looking at. Then he gasped as he saw the gigantic ball shrink until it was nothing more than a small ball in Daemon's hands. He then blew on it, causing it to dissipate into several tiny particles. "I don't think you need to worry about that," murmured Gallantmon.

Daemon gave a chuckle. "That kind of tickled." Before GCM had further time to contemplate how to deal with Daemon, the demonic angel appeared right in his face and grabbed his throat. "Death Grasp!!" Soon all four Digimon were feeling the pain and screaming in agony. After Daemon had performed the attack, they had all fallen to the ground, unable to move as their bodies were in bad shape.

Even though Daemon was puzzled at the connection, he found that in this case, he benefited from it. 'Apparently, when one feels great pain, the others experience it as well. Interesting. I had better finish up this business before making other plans to conquer the digital world and the human world in all four realms.' He started gathering a huge amount of energy. "Prepare yourselves for oblivion!! Dark Banishing!!" He fired a big black ball of energy. The last thing he heard was Shadowgallantmon exclaiming "SSSSSSHHHHHHHHIIIIIII-" before the explosion.

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Both Sakuyamons were bouncing off different edges of rocks in order to get to the top of the cliff. They hadn't had time to check how far behind Kuzuhamon was. However, they did not want to know. "You know…" She looked and gasped as she saw the dark shaman sticking to the side of the cliff with her boots. "…I'm quite vexed at the fact that you are running away from a battle. I'll fix that soon enough."

Somewhere inside of Rika, she snapped. The Digimon Queen persona may have been a source of strength but it was not the only one. She had stopped being that ruthless person a while ago. So during fights, she tried to develop new sources of courage and forced herself not to rely on the Digimon Queen persona so often but she had kept using it. Now that persona is endangering her life. Before she knew it, she had whipped out her staff. "If you're so eager for my data, come and get it!!" 

Kuzuhamon gave a smile. "Thank you for extending that invitation. Demon Helix!!" "Dragon Helix!!" Both attacks collided with each other and caused an explosion. Kuzuhamon dashed forward with her staff poised to strike but Rika leapt up and gracefully landed on the ground on top of the cliff. She twirled her staff a few times before raising it to block the Digimon Queen's attack.

The staffs kept giving off a clanging noise as they clashed together. 'She's getting wilder with each attack!! I have to back off a bit!!' Rika ducked another swing by her counterpart before performing several back flips to move away. However when she landed on the last one, her body started tingling. And it wasn't in a good way. Kuzuhamon felt it as well and dropped to her knees, watching in horror as her hand was fading in and out.

"What's happening?!?" The priestess Sakuyamon tried to focus on keeping together but it was most difficult. She didn't even notice a fourth Sakuyamon in red armour also fading in and out. The one in crimson armour looked up and noticed the priestess. 'I wonder what part of Rika she represents. I can guess later…right now, I've got to make sure that she doesn't get hurt!!'

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He woke up in a strange place. It appeared almost watery but not quite. To be more specific, it looked like those strange ambience images that played on a Media Player but he didn't know that nor did he care. But it was hard to see anything in this environment. 'Where am I? Where's Grani? What is this place? Where are the others?' Gallantmon shook the dizziness away and got up. 'That last attack on Daemon was a whopper!! How are we going to beat him? I better find the others and…'

He stopped thinking as he noticed a figure in a large black robe and hood walking towards him. He could see that perfectly fine, even with the confusing background images. 'What in the…?' He waited for some sort of confrontation but the figure just passed by without saying a single word. "Uh, excuse me? Do you know where we are?" The figure stopped walking when the holy knight asked his question. ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? 

Gallantmon felt a chill go down his spine when he heard the other figure's voice. The best way to describe it was that it carried like a voice belonging in a dark cemetery at winter. "Er…yes. You seem to know this place well. Can you help explain a few things?" LIKE WHAT? CAN YOU BE ANY MORE SPECIFIC? OTHERWISE, I CAN'T HELP YOU.

Finally, curiosity got the better of the holy knight. "Um…just who are you and why do you have such a creepy voice?" He knew this was impolite but with Guilmon's childish instincts, he just fired away. AS THE GOD OF DEATH, I HAVE TO HAVE A CREEPY VOICE. IT'S IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION. MY NAME IS EMMA-O.

He felt himself go pale underneath his helmet. "The G-God of D-Death? Great…I'm dead now, right?" The figure shrugged. TYPICALLY WHEN SOMEONE SEES ME, THEN USUALLY THAT PERSON HAS DIED. SO IT'S SAFE TO ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE REACHED THE AFTERLIFE. The only noise that came out of the holy knight was 'eep'.

And another chapter is done. Wow…anyways. I included a special omake to try and appease the fan girls who have claimed Ryo as their bishounen.

OMAKE

"Would you please stop getting ice cream on my shirt?"

BlackTerriermon saw another drop fall on to his partner. "Momentai, DC!! It's just a small thing that you can deal with when you get home. Hey, who's that guy running?"

DC blinked as he saw a Chinese teenager run up to him. "Odd. What's freaking Epsilon out so badly?"

"RUN!! RUN!! RUN!!! And when you're finished…RUN SOME MORE!!!"

The rabbit Digimon frowned. "Momentai already!! What are you scared of?!?"

Epsilon had to take a few breaths before speaking. "Remember the segment in chapter 25 of Ascension with Ryo getting kicked in the family jewels? Now I have a whole bunch of pissed off fangirls who want my hide!! I'll catch you later!! Don't want to give them too much time to catch up!! Oh, take this!!" He quickly gave BlackTerriermon a small piece of paper.

As he ran off, BlackTerriermon could make out a huge mob consisting of girls who want to avenge their bishounen coming from another direction. "Where did he go?!?" DC awkwardly pointed a finger in another direction. "Thanks!! Wait a second…you're that Rukato author!!"

"So? What about it?" BlackTerriermon opened the paper and went pale. He then passed it on to DC who also went pale. It read:

WARNING: These Ryo otakus have recently taken a liking to Ryuki stories and have begun to hate Rukato authors with a passion. RUN NOW!!!!

"Epsilon, wait for us!!!!" And so the chase began.

END

I don't know why I did this but I had a dream about it a while ago and here it is. Anyways, see you on the other side.   


	26. Third Arc, Episode VI

Author's Notes: Nothing much to say except sorry for taking so long to update. School projects, tests and finals around the corner...enough of that stuff. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.6 

Emma-o did not say a word as he watched Gallantmon's reaction to this new situation. It was always the same. Self delusions, denials and usually lots of freaking out and screaming. Normally, a person would have done this immediately after coming to the conclusion that he or she is dead but the child has not done that. Perhaps his life as a Digimon tamer has altered him. After all, a tamer's life is quite dangerous and they face death on a regular basis every time they enter into a great battle. "I-I'm dead…" The God of Death heard the holy knight speak for the first time since uttering that 'eep' sound about a minute ago. Impressive that he's been able to keep himself together for this long. "If Rika finds out that I'm dead, she's gonna kill me…"

This caused Emma-o to blink in surprise. I BEG YOUR PARDON? Gallantmon looked wearily at the God of Death and started mumbling. "Wait…that doesn't make sense, does it? How can she kill me if I'm already dead? Heh heh…" That little chuckle degenerated into rapid breathing. "I'm dead!! I've bit the dust, taken the dirt nap and all of those other things!! Crap…crap…crap…crap…crap…crap…CRAP…CRAP…CRAP!!!!!" (AN: The way he said it was like on that X-Copper radio commercial. I don't know if many of you heard it but the guy says 'crap' nine times in a row in about four and a half to five seconds) 

"For crying out loud!! Clam your mouth, dork face!! You're going to make my headache even worse!!" Gallantmon wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed when he heard Shadowgallantmon's voice. "Oh, do go on!! Perhaps our associate will have a taste of what he puts us through every time he opens his big mouth!!" Whoa…he had never heard GCM snap like that before.

The ambience environment shattered leaving the God of Death, Gallantmon, a pair of arguing knights, a confused dragon and a woman in a kimono who looked familiar and appeared to be having a migraine. "Wait…now I'm totally confused. If I'm dead, shouldn't all of them be within me? And shouldn't I be in my normal body with Guilmon by my side?" The woman sighed. "You're not dead. I pulled the four of you out of the digital world before Daemon's attack hit. You still have a role to play in the scenario."

Gallantmon blinked once as he remembered the female's identity. Her voice not only caused his memory to trigger but also ceased the argument between GCM and Shadowgallantmon…at least on the crimson knight's part anyway. He fell down on one knee and bowed his head. "Amaterasu…" The other holy knight then remembered the woman who had kissed his forehead before sending him back to the digital world. She gave a small sigh. "You do not have to do that." She then turned to Emma-o with a stern look on her face.  "What you did wasn't very nice. I thought you were better than that." He just blinked once and cautiously chose his words as he spoke to the sun goddess. WELL…YOU DID TELL ME TO IMPROVE MY SENSE OF HUMOUR. 

Gallantmon just gave Emma-o a look of disbelief. "You mean that whole time you…you told me I was dead!!!" The God of Death regarded the holy knight calmly. I DID NOT SAY THAT YOU WERE DEAD. I MERELY INDICATED THAT TYPICALLY WHEN ONE MEETS WITH ME THEN THAT PERSON IS DEAD. YOU ASSUMED ON YOUR OWN THAT YOU HAD DIED. THE REACTION WAS QUITE HUMOUROUS.

There was a small pause before Gallantmon spoke again. "You said that you were trying to improve your sense of humour. Was that whole little conversation and you leading me to believe I was dead your idea of a joke?" IT WAS MY FIRST JOKE. HOW DID I DO? More silence followed as the four personas of Takato Matsuki were just baffled with why the God of Death was trying to develop a sense of humour. Actually, it was three personas who were baffled by this behaviour as Megidramon was confused about everything now.

Shadowgallantmon was the first to break the silence. "Well…if he gave a freaked out reaction to something that wasn't really true, I guess it would be funny. Now that I think about it, I would have probably laughed if I had seen his reaction to thinking he was dead." He looked at Emma-o and could have sworn that he was beaming with some sort of pride. THANK YOU. NOW I MUST GET GOING…LOTS OF INTERESTING FORMER PEOPLE TO MEET. 

As he left, Amaterasu gave a small frown. "I told him to try out a few knock-knock jokes first." Under his breath, Shadowgallantmon muttered about how that was the lowest form of humour in the world, next to puns. The sun goddess gave a small shrug. "Enough about that. I have much to discuss with you."  (AN: I understand that the previous situation is really messed up but then again, this is what I came up with after reading 'Shinji's Odd Jobs' by Raiden X as well as dozens of Discworld novels)

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"Hey…I can't see anything!!" Henry focused on placing his green shades on to help him see through the digital field. "Try putting on your goggles, Taichi! It might make things easier!!" There was a bit of noise as the boy placed his goggles over his eyes. Zero wasn't having too much difficulty adjusting to the field.

"What is this fog anyway?" asked the tamer from the Northern Realm. Before Henry could give an answer, Terriermon started to poke him. "Henry, I think there's something seriously wrong with Takato's horizontal tango partner…uh…I mean, Rika!!" The boy rolled his eyes underneath his shades.

Before Taichi could ask Zero if he sensed something wrong as well, the champion Digimon was already running into a direction. "Maybe Zero can find Sakuyamon. Terriermon, do you think you can try and catch some sort of scent? It could lead back to her and then we can start getting to the bottom of all this." The vaccine Digimon frowned. "What do you think I am? A dog?" Henry gave a small smirk and was about to give a reply when his Digimon interrupted him. "Actually, don't answer that question. I know I set myself up for that one but do me a favour and spare me the witty reply."

They tracked down their other two comrades, who were kneeling in front of a fading Sakuyamon in red armour. "She's definitely not in good shape. We've got to do something!!" exclaimed Zero. When the others knelt down to examine her, Terriermon saw a small movement by the cliff. He squinted his eyes to try and get a better look. "I think I see something…"

Henry blinked in surprise as he tried to see through the edges of the digital field. 'It's no use. I've got to get in closer!!' He ran towards the shape and gave a small gasp when he saw another Sakuyamon, in a kimono, also not in good shape. They noticed that Zero and Taichi had helped the crimson version up on to her feet. She seemed to be fading less as she walked closer to the other Sakuyamon. "If I…can r-recall, t-there are…two more…" She pointed a small finger up, meant for the top of the cliff.

Terriermon's eyes widened as he heard this new revelation. "Whoa…four fabulous digi ladies?!? Man, Takato's gonna freak out once he finds out that he has a harem!!" Henry glared at his partner. "At least we now know what's going on. These conditions seem to indicate that Rika somehow underwent Quantum Bio-Merge Digivolution. The digital field may have been created as a result of three extra digital entities coming into existence. Terriermon, are you strong enough to digivolve? We've got to check on those other two Digimon at the top." The vaccine Digimon hopped off of Henry's shoulder. Then the tamer took out a card. "Digi Modify!! Digivolution Activate!!"

DIGIVOLUTION….  "Terriermon digivolve to…Gargomon!!"

"Now if I only had a Hyper Wing card…" Henry flipped through his cards, searching for something appropriate. "Don't worry about it, Henry. Just hop on." The boy hesitated before wrapping his arms around Gargomon's neck. He didn't know what his partner had in mind thus the hesitation. 

"This is your captain speaking. We are about to initiate the flight so please put on your safety belts. There shall be no in-flight movie as the flight will only take-" By now, Henry was visibly annoyed. "Gargomon…" The champion Digimon ceased his rambling and aimed his weapons on the ground.

"Gargo Laser!!" This allowed them to blast up like a rocket and soon they were at the top of the cliff. Henry allowed himself to drop to the ground while catching his breath. He went still for a moment when he saw Kuzuhamon and Sakuyamon going through the same thing as the other Sakuyamon he met earlier. 'Kuzuhamon…this could be trouble.' He didn't even notice Gargomon already approaching the dark shaman Digimon.

Normally, Gargomon would have been worried about Kuzuhamon trashing him all over the place but her strength seems to be depleted from other things. She barely even acknowledged his presence. "Black and blue…Shadowgallantmon has those same colours as well." The demented parts of Gargomon's mind then gave him a vision. "If a black and blue guy like him got together with a black and blue gal like you, then you would have little black and blue kids running around! The first two should be called Nathaniel and Superfly but the rest-" (AN: The names Nathaniel and Superfly were picked out from a Weird Al song. Pretty funny dude)

He was cut off when Kuzuhamon launched herself at his neck and started to choke him by wrapping her arms around his neck. Her grip wasn't too hard as her strength was not at full capacity but it was enough to start making his face turn blue. But she collapsed back on to the ground since she had used the last reserves of her strength to shut Gargomon up. He started breathing heavily. 'Okay…that was scary.'

As Henry was helping Sakuyamon get up, a large gust of wind nearly knocked him off balance as an Imperialdramon rose above the cliff. A pillar of light from the dragon Digimon's back swept through the area, picking up the two personas as well as Henry and Gargomon. The Digidestined children were standing behind Taichi…and for some reason, Ryo and Monodramon were curled up into balls and giving small groans of pain. Before he could ask, the Sakuyamon in the robes answered his question. "Kuzuhamon kicked him in the area between his legs." Both Henry and Gargomon winced. "Ouch."

"Now we have something even crazier on our hands. Four versions of Sakuyamon existing at the same time and we still have to deal with that tower problem," muttered Cody. Kari was the next to speak. "Since we don't have a plan of action, we should head back to Gennai's house to recharge ourselves and think up of something to reverse this condition."

"Wow, Kari! That's a pretty smart idea!" exclaimed Davis. Yolei, who was beginning to get tired of the goggle boy's attempts to score points with Kari, rolled her eyes. "Davis, it's just plain common sense. But I guess that's something you don't have much of." That comment initiated another argument between the two.

'What was that all about?' Rika's mind was still preoccupied with what had happened earlier and how she seemed to be fading in and out. It has stabilized now but it still bothered her. As she kept thinking about it, the crimson Sakuyamon had a concerned look on her face as she could feel the other consciousness residing within her deteriorate. 'This has to be resolved soon. Otherwise, Rika may lose a key part of herself.' She then noticed that Imperialdramon has not started the journey back. "Uh…where exactly do I go from here to get to his place?"

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"So that explains it…" By now GCM and Gallantmon were shaken up by the revelation about Daemon's origins. It was rather hard to believe that the current Daemon data line started with a corrupt Seraphimon. Back when the Digital God was in the process of scattering his special tags so that humans cannot enter his castle, this particular Seraphimon revolted against him. As a result, he was banished from the higher realms and his code had changed thanks to the flames of Purgatory coming in contact with him.  

He vowed to reshape the digital world in his own image to spite the Digital God who had banished him. This type of plan would take a lot of time and because data can break down over time, he had implanted his code into the data stream to create Digimon with his evolution line who could share his vision. He also created an apprentice by corrupting a digiegg and began to instruct him in everything he needed to carry out his long term plan. Once the master had deteriorated, the new Daemon would continue with the work and create an apprentice of his own. This has gone on for generations.

According to Amaterasu, the Daemon that they had fought recently was the twenty fifth generation of Daemon. The reason for these late generations was because of the temporal difference that had been generated when the digital world was first created in the fifties when the first electronic computer was built. While only a half century passed in the human world, millennia had passed in the digital world.

Because this Daemon was a direct descendant of the original Daemon, he had a small bit of holy code inside of him. And it took Gatomon's tail ring to bring it out. The tail ring was not just a source of additional strength for the cat Digimon but it was a holy talisman as well. Once Daemon had slipped on the ring, he had to endure great pain because of his demonic tendencies in order to allow his holy power to surface. That along with his new powers from the Dark Spore as well as his natural abilities has made him a more dangerous foe.

"This changes our strategy then. We have to find a way to hack off Daemon's ring. Once that's done, we can finish him off…if he doesn't pull off any vanishing tricks," murmured Shadowgallantmon. Then he gave a glare at the sun goddess. "If he's becoming such a big threat to all Digimon and humans, then why aren't you doing anything to stop this? Is it because of your 'no interference' and 'this is a corporeal matter' policy?"

"The weakened barriers of the Southern Realm had been occupying our attention recently. I'm certain you know of all the strange visitors that you have been receiving because of Lunarmillenniumon's temporal incursion. We were making calculations in order to figure out how to manipulate reality precisely to complete the repair work in the shortest amount of time. Manipulating reality is extremely delicate work. Only those who are extremely lucky or extremely skilled can perform such work efficiently. And unfortunately, Millenniumon is one of those extremely skilled individuals," stated Amaterasu. The crimson knight frowned underneath his helmet. "Who exactly are you speaking of when you say 'we'? And what of Millenniumon? What is he planning this time?" 

"There are many religions in your world, some which have been around for millennia and some which have died out along with its ancient civilization. With each religion, there are a group of gods and goddesses that the people believe in. In the planar community, each quantum plane is governed by the gods and goddesses of one religion. And as there are many religions in the world, there are infinite quantum planes. And the number of universes vary within each plane. When I say 'we', I am referring to the other gods and goddesses in the Shinto religion. We govern this plane, which only contains four universes." 

She paused for a moment. "As for Millenniumon…his body had been destroyed but his consciousness had remained intact. You've already been told what the towers can do from Akiyama. But what he didn't know was that they was a backup function. Not even Monodramon could pick that piece of information up when he temporarily housed Millenniumon's consciousness."

"I'm assuming that we're going to have to deal with him again…great. Now there are two diabolical god-like villains that I'm worried about," muttered GCM. Gallantmon also had a dejected look on his face. "Does that mean that we're finished? Last time, we barely beat Lunarmillenniumon…I can't think of any power that could beat anything stronger than him."

Amaterasu gave a small smile at the four Digimon. "There is a power that could match his but you must discover that on your own. You've already been tapping into a part of it…and once you find your inner harmony to join together again, you will find it. There are also another such as yourself who also possesses a unique gift." Shadowgallantmon started to grumble. "Even more riddles…"

"Can't you at least give us some sort of clue about what you have in mind?" asked GCM. The sun goddess thought about that for a bit before saying a single word. "Kotoamatsukami…" All four Digimon blinked in surprise when she said that word. Before GCM could ask anything else, he could feel his mind slipping away as he surrendered himself to darkness.

It's been three weeks since I updated and this is what I could come up with. I'll try and make the next chapter more interesting. I may have to rewrite this if necessary to make it flow better. Hopefully, I can settle back into a simple schedule of getting out one chapter a week after exams are done but maybe not. I was able to get a summer job so I'll be getting money for cool things!! Nothing else to say so see you on the other side. 


	27. Third Arc, Episode VII

Author's Notes: Oh, boy…I'm really stressed out. Finals are around the corner and I have got to seriously hit the books in order to get on to second year. Please bear with me like you have done in the past. Thank you. Also, I'm assuming that the Digital God mentioned in V-Tamer is not the Sovereign since this was before Daemon was created PLUS the fact that the Digital God scattered the tags so that humans can't enter his castle. Then again, who really knows? All I can say is that if the turtle really was the Digital God then obviously he has changed his mind about humans and that would explain why he's really old. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.7

'Walk slowly…don't attract any attention…' The subway train came to a complete stop before all the doors opened to let the passengers move in and out of the cars. Among them was Sora Takenouchi, the Digidestined child of Love. She was currently on her way to speak to Tai Kamiya about the other boy who looked exactly like him but currently, that was one of the last things she had on her mind. She was more concerned with what to do with all of the anti-Digimon coalitions popping up as well as the tower mystery in the digital world.

It wasn't surprising that this happened. When the rest of the world learned about Digimon, it caused a great social reaction, similar to the one when the birth of Dolly was announced. In some manner, the Digimon had embodied humanity's greatest ambitions, evoked their greatest fears and challenged mankind's most sacred views about themselves and their place in the world. It is becoming clearer now that the story is not just about Digimon. It is about the human race as well.

Sora had noticed Matt and Tai's odd behaviour when they had been given back their partners in egg form after about a month had passed. As soon as they had received their eggs, they went home and focused on caring for the egg until it hatched. Fresh Digimon were similar to human babies…young, innocent and dependent. She gave a small smile as she thought about the way that Tai and Matt had been acting. According to Kari, Tai got himself scratched up a bit by the cat when he tried to shoo it away from the egg. And then he just sat down and held the egg like nothing happened. As for Matt…he spent the night at his mother's place since he felt that the egg would fare better in a more comfortable (and cleaner) environment. He had also cancelled band practice indefinitely until Gabumon was back to normal.  

'They were both acting like fathers with their new born children.' It was odd to think of them acting as fathers but that was the only way to describe their behaviour as of late. She snapped out of her thoughts as she reached the front door to the Kamiya apartment and knocked. A moment later, the door opened. "Tai, we've got to…whaaa!!!" Standing in front of her was Tai Kamiya but his face seemed to have disappeared and was replaced with an odd looking pink shape. She could still see his gigantic hair sticking out.

"Mrromph, mrrrph mrrphh mrrrph mrrrph." The pink shape then bounced off him to reveal a flustered Tai and a hyper Koromon. "The last time something like that happened was when that other Koromon first appeared before he fought that Parrotmon!! Oh…hi, Sora!!" She didn't respond as Koromon was now doing the same thing to her that he did to Tai earlier.

After Tai had gotten his partner off of Sora's face, he started to fix up some refreshments. Koromon was in the bathroom as a result of him devouring the mystery dessert made by Tai's mother earlier. Even though this gave him the energy to digivolve from his fresh state to his next form, he only realized recently the effects that Mrs. Kamiya's cooking had to others. The in-training Digimon was quite surprised that Tai and Kari had endured it for this long.

Before Sora could say a word, Tai noticed that there was a small stain on her forehead. "Is that a blood stain?!?" She blinked before realizing that he was mentioning about the red stain on her forehead. "Don't worry about it. That's just from a tomato some guy threw at me as I left the shop to come here. He must have been from a type one anti-Digimon coalition."

When Tai developed a blank look on his face, Sora gave a small sigh. "Don't you remember the last group meeting before the whole tower mystery began? Izzy found out that there were two main types of anti-Digimon groups. Type ones are convinced that we were all going to use our Digimon to commit crimes against humanity. The only way they can be satisfied is to put us in isolation and constantly monitor us. Type twos think that our Digimon are using some sort of mind control and they want to break us free from their spell. If it wasn't for the Digimon helping to save the world and the potential benefits that the digital world has in store, then we wouldn't be given special protection under the law and we wouldn't be having this conversation now."

The boy gave a nod. "Yeah. I'm starting to get worried about those types of groups here on our world. They'll just make the transition harder and give us a lot of trouble. Some may go to extreme lengths to…" The disturbing image of his friends being hurt or killed sent a chill down his spine. "I won't allow those groups to tear apart everything that we've worked so hard to accomplish!!"

Sora remembered that Tai is one of the diplomats trying to establish a working relationship between the human world and the digital world. With these types of groups on the loose, all of Tai's work can come tumbling down. "Nobody wants to see what you've worked for go down for nothing. We'll find a way to resolve this." She hesitated before placing her own hand over his clenched fist. When Tai looked back at her, the look she was giving ensured him that everything would work out fine. 

'Okay…this is it.' Tai felt that this was the time to tell Sora that he liked her a lot for two reasons. Number one was the fact that this type of life had elements of danger and he realizes that he had to live every part of his life to the fullest. Number two was the fact that if he didn't confess soon, then she may inevitably drift away and maybe hook up with Matt. The words that Takato had blurted out a few months ago may actually come true. 'Oh, man!! What if she's already going out with Matt? Well…I better find out. Here we go…'

The moment was interrupted when a beeping sound started to ring through the apartment. Tai sighed as he went over to his computer to check the incoming mail that had been sent to his e-mail address. He kept muttering to himself. "All I wanted was a little peace and quiet so I can tell a girl that I like her!! Is that too much to ask?!?" "T-Tai?" He then blushed as he realized that Sora had overheard him mumbling.

'While I'm checking that e-mail, I can figure out a way to smooth out this mess!' He moved the mouse to check his mailbox and opened the letter. "It's from Izzy…there's a strange disturbance in America concerning some Digimon. It seems to be related to that virus that made Diaboromon a few years ago!!" Sora cracked a small smile as she remembered Tai's little e-mail but shifted her focus on the new crisis. "Aren't there Digidestined in America? Mimi should also be able to help out!"

Tai grimaced as he remembered what the United States had stated when he had a meeting with the United Nations before the tower mystery began. "The American situation is volatile so until things cool off, the others are probably going to restrict their activities." He paused as he continued to check the message. "The President has already authorized military force to try and stop this Digimon but it may not be enough. We better get a large group over there in a hurry. There's no telling how strong that Digimon can be…and how much damage it can do!!" He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't hear Koromon yelling that he was done with the bathroom and that he needed help opening the doorknob since he was so short.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Hey, guys!! We've got a message on our D terminals!!" TK quickly scanned the message and immediately developed a worried look. Ken gave a frown. "This is bad. We need to stop by a portal and get back. Then we have to get everyone back to full strength as quickly as possible. We'll need to find some sort of program to strengthen our Digimon. I hope that Izzy finished his prototype…"

The other Digidestined looked at him with confusion while some of the others had not listened to what Ken had stated since they had their own problems to deal with. "Right after we got back from the fight with Malomyotismon, Izzy had begun a correspondence with me, asking for my input to the Modify program that he's trying to create for all Digidestined. He's been analyzing the microchip code that has been embedded in one of the game cards that Takato had been kindly gave to us. With any luck, we can perform a few similar tricks like the tamers do. Of course, I couldn't help him that much since my enhanced IQ had gone down the drain and I was just a normal kid again."

"How does it work?" asked Cody. Ken gave some thought to the conversations that he had with the holder of the Crest of Knowledge. "Our Digivices should have enough capacity to store the Modify program. To use it properly, we just have to focus on activating it with our minds. The Digivice will then upload the appropriate components to our partners. Izzy is still working to iron out the glitches and everything."

"It'll be incredible if Izzy can come up with something like that from one of the game cards. I don't suppose he can create a program to teach Terriermon manners…" Terriermon looked at his tamer. "I can be well behaved, Henry!! Really! But chicks don't dig the well behaved guy! They want someone who's a bad ass and…wait a second. Bad ass and well mannered…what an interesting combination. Maybe if I can be like that, then I can have a little harem like Takato does!!" A moment later, he was clutching his head in pain as Rika had smacked him hard.

"So, squirt…where is this portal of yours to get back to your world?" asked Taichi. Kari gave a glare at her brother's doppelganger before giving an answer. "We use our Digivices near a TV to travel back and forth from the digital world…" The tamer just blinked for a second and then started to laugh. 

"Right…that's a new one. Travelling using TVs? Come on!! Next, you're going to be saying that you can take a street car to the digital world!! Isn't that the funniest thing you've ever heard, Zero?" The mega Digimon then asked a question. "I was just wondering…what's a TV? I've never heard of something like that."

Taichi had thought that he had told Zero about television but after describing that it was an electronic box, Zero was able to spot one with his enhanced vision. Moments later, he was in front of it. (AN: Remember that Imperialdramon can fly pretty damn fast as shown in the Digimon world tour) "After we take care of what's going on in America, we'll try and catch up with you so we can find a way to reverse this condition," stated Yolei. The priestess Sakuyamon frowned. "I wish that we could come with you but…" 

Davis grinned. "Don't you worry about anything!! We'll be back faster than you can say 'Okinawa'." Yolei then rolled her eyes at the goggle boy's expression before the Digidestined group was dropped off near the TV. After making sure he knew how to Gennai's house, Zero flew off into the sky.

Henry slowly approached the Sakuyamon in the yellow armour. "How are you holding up?" The Digimon just gripped her staff more tightly. "What do you think, Einstein?!? I'm practically having the biggest mental crisis of the millennium and you're asking me how I'm holding up?!?" She stopped her yelling and sighed. "I'm sorry, Henry. It's just been so insane…"

"Hey, at least you know you're not alone. Takato's been stuck like this for longer than you have and he's still managed to keep his sanity intact! But then again, he's already had experience dealing with a psychotic persona while you were still learning how not to be so nasty!" Sakuyamon paused, not knowing whether to choke the rabbit or disembowel him. Before she could make a choice, Zero had landed. "Here we are!! I think…"

His tamer grinned. "Yeah, I remember now. Let us off, Zero!!" Moments later, the entire group was in front of the entrance with Zero at his normal champion level. Henry frowned. "Now how are we supposed to get in again?" He was spared of thinking up of a way to solve this when he noticed Gennai coming back. Another man with a beard was with him. They had quite a bit of a panicked look on their faces. But that moment of panic turned to confusion when they saw four Sakuyamons…rather three Sakuyamons and a Kuzuhamon along with the group that had left earlier, minus the Digidestined.

Gennai decided that he was not going to sugar coat what had happened and spoke first while trying to ignore asking the questions about the four other mega Digimon with the group. "Henry…your sister has disappeared." "SAY WHAT?!?!" Terriermon then frowned as he started hearing a strange noise. It sounded like a few voices all yelling "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

Before he had more time to figure this one out, a huge mass of white, red and black crashed on all of Rika's personas. 'Ah…so that was it. What I heard were a bunch of guys screaming in terror as they were in free fall motion,' thought the vaccine Digimon. When the smoke cleared, GCM gave a groan and then gasped at the sight before him. "Oh dear…this is certainly not good…"

Gallantmon tried to shake off the dizziness. Then he realized what his other counterpart was talking about. "Rika underwent Quantum Bio-Merging as well!! I don't even want to know what type of trouble some of her personas can cause!!" GCM shook his head. "That wasn't what I was talking about. Look again." The holy knight did and saw what his other counterpart was talking about. Shadowgallantmon's head is in contact with Kuzuhamon's breast plate. And since she was coming to…

"PERVERT!!!!!"

The next thing the dark knight knew, he was getting whacked on the head several times by Kuzuhamon's staff. It didn't really hurt him that much since he had a strong helmet and the fact that he was a virus while she was a data but it still annoyed him. "Hey…quit it!! I swear, Amaterasu did this on purpose to get back at me for thinking that she had a lousy sense of humour. Probably read my mind or something…will you knock it off already?!?" 

Kuzuhamon still kept attacking him. "Then keep your face out of my breasts!!!"  Megidramon was now more confused than ever. "Unh?" Yes, that simple noise pretty much summarized everyone's thoughts which was "What the hell is going on?" except for Kuzuhamon, who was thinking of ways to torture, mutilate and ultimately send the dark knight to a world of pain.

Shadowgallantmon was now more ticked off than ever and had been planning to shove his lance straight through her heart but she was whacking him too much to even concentrate on making his move. "First of all, those are digital breasts!! Meaning that they are not yours!! Second of all, the last time dork face looked at your chest…" GCM widened his eyes in horror. "Shadowgallantmon, no!!!"

"…it was flatter than a single Digimon playing card!!!" Cue the awkward silence…also known as the calm before the storm. As this awkward moment was happening, the God of Death was scratching his head at the life counter of Takato Matsuki and wondered why it was fluctuating the way it was. HMMMMM…WHAT A VERY ODD BOY.

"DIE!!!!!"

This time, Kuzuhamon was joined by both golden Sakuyamons…yes, even the Princess had to defend her womanhood. Now the dark knight had three shaman Digimon whacking him with their respective weapons. GCM kept wincing as he felt the blows to a degree. Then he noticed something odd. The crimson Sakuyamon was not participating. He would have asked why she wasn't doing anything but the continuous whacking done to Shadowgallantmon caught up to him and he was forced to sit down and start grumbling. "Ow…stupid smeghead…ow…moronic buttweasel…ow…" 

Well, there you have it. Another chapter complete. I based the previous section slightly on Daneel Rush's "Forget the Y2K, This is Madness!" story which is an excellent piece of work. Daneel, try and update "Silent Sorrow" when you can. Anyways…I'm a bit concerned with the way Digimon stories have dropped in quality. A lot of good authors had jumped the boat…and the Digimon section is being overrun by newbies who aren't capturing the heart of what Digimon is supposed to represent. I'm hoping that something can be done soon. By the way, I'm planning to put out a new Digimon fic which is most likely to replace Other Voices since I'm having a tough time with that story. Tell me what you think when I get the first chapter out…hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday. That's all for me so see you on the other side.


	28. Third Arc, Episode VIII

Author's Notes: I don't want to say anything now because I'm way too tired. Just go and read already and I'll get back to you later. This chapter may be a bit weird so please forgive me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 3.8

"Let's just get a bit of background information here…who is this person beside you, Gennai? And what were you doing with Suzie?" Terriermon had wisely decided not to make any wise cracks as his tamer did not need anything else to fuss about. The bearded man gave a small smile. "You have definitely taken some characteristics from your father. My name is Shibumi and I used to work with him back when he was in college and together with a few others, we created the first Digimon. We were known as the Monster Makers."

As Henry was having his discussion with Gennai and Shibumi inside the house, Taichi and Zero were having a midday meal, courtesy of Gennai. Ryo and Monodramon were resting in a guest room, trying to recover from Kuzuhamon's kick. The eight personas were still outside so that in case Kuzuhamon and Shadowgallantmon started another fight, they wouldn't damage the archives as well as the rest of Gennai's residence. "You worked with my father? I think I remember my dad talking a bit about it. So what are you doing here?"

"During the chaos that had erupted, I got seriously injured and I think that released a certain part of me that was able to explore the digital world. I'm not sure if I'm dead or if I'm in a coma. When I explored the digital world, I found out that Zhuqiaomon, the guardian of the Southern Realm, was slowly being decompiled as a result of running into a program called the D Reaper, which was originally designed to monitor and control the growth of computer data as well as eliminate programs that have gone beyond their original specifications." 

Gennai nodded. "Indeed. What Zhuqiaomon needed in order to save his life was…a data graft. I'm not sure if that's the accurate way of explaining it. He needed a fresh infusion of his own data to replace the affected data. Lopmon was a Deva and therefore carried some traits from the Sovereign who had created her. She had both Azulongmon's traits and Zhuqiaomon's traits and so she was the only suitable candidate for this graft." Henry crossed his arms. "Perhaps that explains how there is a viral version of Kerpymon…" 

"This meant that she would not be able to stay with Suzie since her data would have to be absorbed by the Sovereign before the replacement can begin. Shibumi here had been able to flush out the D Reaper program so that it would not continue to affect Zhuqiaomon. Suzie was very hesitant to do this but she eventually agreed to let Lopmon do this. We then focused our attention on the Sovereign and when we checked up on her, she was gone." 

Shibumi placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. "I know it can be tough to watch her go through this pain but rest assured, once Zhuqiaomon has regained his strength, we may be able to resurrect Lopmon. You know the fact that Digimon in the Southern Realm absorb the loser's data to get stronger? Every time when that happens, there is a small mental battle to determine the dominant mind. Most of the time, the winner is the one who had absorbed the data but in rare cases, the dominant mind can be the one who had just been absorbed."

The boy blinked once to try and let this idea sink in his head while Shibumi continued. "Zhuqiaomon may be able to let Lopmon's mind remain active so that he can easily return the mind once he has healed. I'm uncertain of how he can do this but I suppose it could be similar to what your friends have had to deal with. With the personas being voices in their heads when they had no physical form…" Henry raised a hand to quiet the man. "Alright, alright…you slightly convinced me that Suzie can get through this. But how exactly did she disappear?"

"The most plausible explanation is that the digital world answered her silent plea. Remember that the digital world is a mix of both data and children's dreams. I think that Suzie may have wanted to go to a place where she can find something to help calm her troubled heart. Where that place is, I'm not sure. But-" Gennai yelped in surprise as Henry forced him to look him in the eye. "The next sentence I want to hear from you is a way that we can track her down."

Gennai paused before speaking. "We can try and make some sort of scanner. I guess I can ask the Sovereigns to keep an eye out if she appears in any of the other realms." Henry released his hold and gave a satisfied look. Moments later, a loud belch echoed through the air, signalling that Zero and Taichi were most satisfied with their meal. Taichi laughed. "Excuse me for that one…that was great!" 

The Chinese tamer couldn't help but give a grin at the humorous duo. "You guys feeling alright?" Both Digimon and human leapt out of their seats, with their bellies full and their energy levels high. It didn't surprise Henry when the two of them struck a pose. "THE 100% COMBINATION IS READY TO GO!!!"

Taichi then got out of his pose as he thought of something. "You know, Neo is still out there. And he's pretty dangerous, especially with ArcaDemon on his side. We should start looking for them." Zero gave a nod. "I'm right behind you on this one, buddy!!" Gennai slowly followed them as the duo moved up the stairway, leading to the surface. As he walked upstairs, he could hear two voices arguing. At least they weren't fighting…yet. As the barrage of insults continued, GCM silently wondered where they had both learned such vulgar language. 

Gallantmon blinked as Taichi and Zero were getting ready to move out. "Where are you guys heading off to?" A flash of light momentarily blinded him as Zero digivolved to ultimate form. Taichi then hopped on board. "We've got to look for Neo and make sure that he doesn't cause any more trouble with ArcaDemon. You can come if you want but I see that you have your own problems to resolve."

Kuzuhamon stopped her quarrel with Shadowgallantmon as soon as she heard the mention of ArcaDemon. "Count me in. Uploading ArcaDemon's data should be quite interesting. And I'll even admit that you seem to be better company than Mr. Sunshine over here, although you have the title of 'craziest gogglehead of all'." Shadowgallantmon snorted. "You're not going anywhere unless you can convince your other counterparts to go with you. And considering that you're a psycho bitch queen, they're not going to risk allowing you to roam throughout the digital world."

"Asswipe!!!" 

"Flat chested-"

"FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND DIE!!!" That came from the golden Sakuyamons along with Kuzuhamon. 

There was a cynical laugh. "I can't imagine why you of all people would be concerned about your looks. I thought you were some sort of tough as nails tomboy but I guess you are just another little girly girl. Besides, the most damage that you can do to me consists of a minor migraine." The personas, save for the crimson one, silently fumed, knowing Shadowgallantmon was right. He had an advantage in terms of armour strength and attributes. Zero and Taichi decided to take off as sticking around could result in many accidents. (AN: Just to avoid confusion, I'll refer to the priestess Sakuyamon as Sakuya, the normal Sakuyamon as Rika and the crimson Sakuyamon as Sakuyamon {duh}for the remainder of the story) Kuzuhamon started to grumble. "Can't even go anywhere with this stupid quantum bio-merge…I feel the pain of the others…this bites!!"

Shadowgallantmon gave a small smirk underneath his helmet. "Welcome to my world…YEEEOOOWWW!!!!" GCM and Gallantmon clutched their arms in pain as they saw Megidramon come out of nowhere and bite Shadowgallantmon's right arm. The bite, combined with the acidic saliva, was pretty painful. However Megidramon didn't seem to feel it as he was too hungry to care and Sakuya got the wrong idea. "Aw, how sweet! He must have wanted to hurt Shadowgallantmon after he insulted us twice!!" 

The dark knight's voice was hoarse. "Lady, you are insane!! I…can't tell who's…wackier. You…or the psycho bitch queen!!" During the whole commotion, Sakuyamon had walked up to Megidramon. Then she spoke two words. "Release him." Nobody knew what was going through the dragon's head. Not even Megidramon knew what he had felt but there was something familiar behind that mask. Not another persona of the human…something else which had earned a hidden respect during their first meeting.

The group was baffled when the dragon released Shadowgallantmon's arm, especially Rika. 'Who is she?' Only then did he start wincing as the pain in his right arm finally registered in his brain. Gennai gave a sigh. "If you can behave yourselves, I'll let you in. I'll also have to see if I can fix that arm. And maybe I can fix something to eat for all of you, provided that Zero and Taichi didn't eat the whole fridge!" Kuzuhamon frowned as they went inside. "Damn. And just when it was getting interesting…"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

In the middle of the room, the D3s belonging to the new group of Digidestined children were connected to the main computer which held Izzy's experimental new program. "Well, let's see if this works." The computer genius pressed a few keys and started uploading the program into their Digivices. The whole process took about four minutes to complete. As soon as they had completed the final end phases, Izzy gave the Digivices back to the children. "Go ahead and try them out. But there still may be a few bugs in it. Just let it naturally happen…kind of like digivolution."

This room had state of the art equipment, dealing with data and other things relating to the digital world. The government had decided that more research was necessary and established a laboratory. Since Izzy was a Digidestined child and was more than computer literate, he was given access to the lab with certain safety restrictions. 

Davis scratched his head before trying to focus on getting his partner back to normal. 'Come on…whatever you are! Let's get Veemon back up to full strength!!' As this thought process was happening, the screen on his Digivice started to display various bits of code, signalling that the program was running. All of the Digimon could feel strength flowing through their bodies. Veemon flexed his arms. "Wow!! I feel like a million bucks!!"

"What's a buck?" asked Armadillomon. Before Veemon could tell the other rookie that it was an expression that he had heard Davis say, Izzy took the Digivices from the children again and hooked them up to a terminal to scan the programs inside. The scanner program had been made thanks to certain templates from his own Digivice and the D3s of some of the other children that he had met during the final confrontation with Malomyotismon. 

He had still remembered how the mega Digimon had just popped out of nowhere and openly taunted them. Tai would have tried to do something but Wargreymon was unavailable at that time. Izzy grew more worried as he checked out the status of the Digivices. "Oh dear…the Modify program is going to need some time to adjust being in your Digivices and has temporarily blocked off the digivolution program." Ken blinked once before speaking. "What? So our Digimon won't be able to digivolve?" 

"Not for at least a few hours. You can still armour-digivolve since that relies only on a connection between your D3 and your D terminal as well as the Digieggs. Now that you guys are feeling better, we had better get you to America to resolve the growing situation there." The children remembered what Izzy had told them when they came in with what was happening in the country. 

"Now, in order to get there as fast as possible, you'll have to travel through the digital world. Once you get to a television in a certain area, you can create a portal to any computer in America. I've talked to Mimi about it and she has offered to keep her laptop open for you guys to exit out of. As soon as you get out, you'll have to head to Colorado since that was where the army had last reported." The children gave a nod before they pointed their Digivices at a computer to open a portal. Moments later, the computer genius was alone in the room, save for the other technicians. 

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"W-where am I?" Ryo Akiyama found himself in a strange room with his partner right beside him. Before he could continue to think about what had happened, the pain between his legs reminded him of just that. 'Man, I never thought that Rika would have done something like that. I guess, we all harbour dark feelings and urges within us.' He started to silently grumble to himself as he had a distinct feeling that he was going to be here for quite a while unless a miracle happened.

Outside of the legendary tamer's room, Megidramon was busy gnawing at a tough steak that Gennai had prepared. His lack of table manners has completely diminished the appetites of the other personas. In fact, as soon as they entered the house, GCM went straight to the archives and started doing some research on what Amaterasu had told him. 'What was the word again? Kotoamatsukami…'

While the crimson knight was busy hunting through the archives, Gallantmon and Rika were just sitting beside each other on the couch, with neither of them making a move. The holy knight was the first to speak since the silence was starting to drive him crazy. "Rika…I know there's nothing that I can say to make you feel better but I just want you to know that I'm still here for you. No matter what." He gave a soft sigh as he saw no reaction from her until she moved her hand to enclose his and squeezed gently. "Thank you," she whispered.

The next statement came out of both Kuzuhamon and Shadowgallantmon. "I think I'm gonna be sick." As soon as they had both said it at the same time, they glared at each other. "Hmmmmmm…the two of you said something at the same time. Maybe there's a bit more character chemistry between you two than either of you would like to admit," stated Terriermon as he was munching on some candy he had found.

Now a golden rule for those who like to make witty, annoying and occasionally inappropriate comments: make sure you can get away with it one hundred percent. No strings attached. A good example could be making a last minute comment when you are inside the subway car just as the doors close. In the case with Terriermon making that last comment, he thought that the comment that he had made wasn't too inappropriate or something. Perhaps in the perspective of some people, that may be true. However, this was the type of comment that could seriously land him in a world of hurt when it came to dealing with Shadowgallantmon and Kuzuhamon. 

Just as he had swallowed that last piece of candy, Kuzuhamon had wrapped her hands around his neck and began to strangle him. "Me have character chemistry with this dumbass?!? Are you out of your mind?!?" Shadowgallantmon gave a small snort. "Let him go…your grip is much too weak!!" The two of them began a small tug of war on who would get to strangle the rabbit with Terriermon feeling like his life was flashing by.

"Stop this foolishness at once." The bickering stopped as Sakuyamon came over and forced both the dark knight and the dark shaman to release the vaccine Digimon. He was able to croak a small 'thank you' before moving as far away as he could from the dark personas. "Just who the hell are you anyway?!?" Once again, Shadowgallantmon and Kuzuhamon had spoken at the same time. This time, they didn't care that the other Digimon had said it at the same time as they wanted to know who or what was currently occupying the body of the crimson Sakuyamon.

At that moment, GCM had stormed out of the archives with frustration clearly raging in his eyes. "Nothing!! I've checked the entire archives and I can't find one mention of Kotoamatsukami!!" This caught everyone's attention, especially Sakuya's. Then she began to speak. "Why would you be interested in knowing about that?" The crimson knight looked at her in disbelief.

"Y-you know about…Kotoamatsukami? Can you please explain it to us?" asked GCM in a polite tone. Sakuya gave a small frown. "I don't know how much I remember. All I know is that my husband has talked about it a few times during our time together. What Kotoamatsukami referred to is the first five powers which came spontaneously into existence during the creation of the universe…"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

There was a loud rumbling as tanks and helicopters were moving in to the area where the monster had been reported. "According to the reports, we should be able to see something by now. But this blasted fog is making it harder to see!!" The sergeant was now grumbling about the weather. "Odd…the fog seems to be artificially created. I'm not detecting any natural weather conditions that could possibly create this."

As the sergeant considered what the technician had told him, one of the rocket infantry soldiers had gotten into position. "Can you see anything, soldier?" The soldier was looking through the eyeglass of the rocket launcher (AN: The one that I have in mind is one that can be carried on your shoulders while firing) and adjusting it periodically. "Nothing yet, sir. Wait…I have a visual target. Looks like a large bunny, sir." Another soldier took a pair of binoculars for confirmation.

The technician spoke again. "I would like to point out that this might not sit too well with those Digidestined kids if that bunny is a Digimon. This could completely jeopardize American interests in the digital world!! And the target doesn't seem to be exhibiting any hostile behaviour!" There was a small sound as the sergeant spat on the ground. 

"As far as I'm concerned, any Digimon that have not been identified as allies are deemed to be hostile. If they are really concerned with keeping this Digimon alive, then they should come here and deal with it. But I don't see any of them around so…" He turned to the soldier. "You may fire when ready. Radio all vehicles to let that monster have it as soon as they are in firing range." 

"The fog is starting to lift a bit…that should make your job easier." A finger was placed on the trigger button. Sweat was rolling down his cheek. The other soldier continued to look through the binoculars. "Talk about a rabbit with odd fashion sense. Wait…I think I see some children down there!" "What?!? Hold your fire!!!" The rocket infantry soldier would have complied if his itchy trigger finger didn't react first. 

The boy heard the sound of a rocket launcher firing. When he noticed the white missile get closer, he grew frightened. "Gargomon, get down!!" The champion Digimon looked at his partner. "But Willis…what about the girl?!?" He gave a gasp as the small girl, who had appeared out of nowhere, was still standing in the line of fire, somewhat oblivious to the danger that was approaching.

And there you have it. I had to trim off a part and save it for next time but I'll eventually write about it. I can't believe that I got this done in between studying. I guess it's because of the rough outline I had in my head. A few things to say before I sign off.

Alex: I'm going to need to think of a way about how Henry comes to terms with his own dark impulses so please be patient. And why do you constantly assume that I'll get mad at you and hate your guts? 

Taiora fans: Well, Tai's secret is out of the bag and I'll show how things resolve…in the epilogue. So you're going to have to wait until…maybe September? Who knows?

Yes, I'm using the third Digimon film as a miniature plotline so I can use Suzie more, finally use Willis and FINALLY have Ken use his Digiegg of Kindness!!!

That's all I can think of for now so I'll see you on the other side!


	29. Third Arc, Episode IX

Author's Notes: I'll be freaking out in a moment…the wait to get your grades is torturing!! Well, I have a bit of time before I have to start working so here we go. I'll also be starting up a multi-part omake in this chapter! What's in it? You'll have to find out at the end of this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 3.9

Willis stiffened as the missile got closer. "What are you doing?!? Get out of here!!" The girl ignored his cries and continued to stare at the rabbit. She had wanted to see her partner again. She couldn't shake off the painful feeling in her heart after she had left. All she wanted was to have her bunny back. Then the next thing she knew, she felt herself travelling to another place because of the digital world responding to her silent plea. And here she was, seeing her bunny again. 

But it wasn't really her bunny. Although they looked the same, the Digimon was someone else's partner. Suzie could not feel the connection between her and the bunny standing a few metres away. The digital world couldn't have known that and this was the next best thing. Now, you're probably starting to wonder 'how does the digital world have sentience?' It doesn't but something else does. They have existed in each digital world and their existence has been part of the reason why the digital world responds to the wishes of children. If you can figure out what they are, give yourself a small pat on the back.

Gargomon leapt forward to protect the little girl from harm just as Antylamon transformed his arms into blades and sliced the missile. There was a large explosion in their area but Antylamon had prevented a large amount of damage with his massive size and armour. Any debris that could have hurt Suzie was blocked by Gargomon. He quickly moved back to Willis with the girl. "I'm going to try and take out Cocomon!" He moved forward and fired his attack. "Gargo Pellets!!"

A pink bubble shielded the bunny as he seemed to spin around for a moment. Willis went pale as he realized what was happening. "He's digivolving…" Moments later, a black, gigantic rabbit Digimon had popped out of the bubble. Suzie's eyes widened in horror as she saw the Digimon. "K-Kerpymon?" He just gave a small growl as he focused his attention on the military build up near by.

Willis tried to get through to his partner. "Cocomon, please stop this madness!! Don't hurt anyone else!!" The mega Digimon slightly turned and murmured two words. "Go…back…" Before the boy could do anything else, his partner had flown off towards the army. "But I'm already in Colorado!! What else do you want?!? Do you want to go back to the field where we met?" He wondered if his partner had even heard his questions.

"My God…the target's coming right at us!!" The sergeant gave a nervous swallow before giving the order. "All units open fire!!!" The weaponry from the various infantry soldiers and the vehicles was then unleashed upon the virus Digimon. The impact had created a large amount of smoke. Most of the soldiers cheered, thinking that the target had been terminated.

But the cheering immediately stopped as a huge shape emerged from the smoke. He chuckled as thoughts about what to do with these men came to his mind. These thoughts were being generated by the viral influence of course. The real Cocomon was still trying to fight it but his mental will had been weakened when he tried to talk to Willis earlier. Now it was easier for the virus to take command. And there was one idea that it had finally settled on concerning the army men…kill them all.

Gargomon charged up and prepared to attack. "Gargo Pellets!!" The giant rabbit Digimon gave a vicious backhand to knock the vaccine Digimon out. As he was in mid air, he changed back to Terriermon. Willis made the catch but then Suzie snatched the Digimon out of his arms. "Terwiermon…" Then the girl just hugged the vaccine Digimon. Willis would have protested but the look on her face suggested that she needed this small moment of peace that Terriermon was providing. 

'I guess we're going to meet at the field where I first found you…' He thought he felt tears in his eyes and he tried to ignore them but they just kept coming. Once again, people were getting killed because of him. He was the one who had tried to create another partner and released the virus that had created Diaboromon. Although the Digidestined had cleaned up that mess, another one formed and that was with the virus infecting Cocomon. "Come on…let's go." The girl walked beside him, carrying Terriermon. As he moved, he silently made a plea to the gods for forgiveness as he heard the screams and the explosions that were being caused by the slaughter that his partner had unleashed.

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There was a small silence except for the soft voice of Princess Sakuya, who continued to explain about Kotoamatsukami. "I must confess that my understanding of the story behind Kotoamatsukami is quite vague. I don't know if you'll be able to get the answers that you seek…" GCM gave a small sigh. "Who knows? But it's all we've got to go on at the moment. Once you explain about this, I'll start talking about why I'm interested in understanding it. I believe that this topic was mentioned very briefly in Japanese Shintoism but I couldn't find anything about it."

She gave a nod. "Very well." The shaman Digimon rolled out a large sheet of paper and got a brush as well as a bottle of ink. As she spoke about the five powers, she wrote their respective kanji on the paper. Everyone kept their eyes on the paper and paid attention to Sakuya, except for Megidramon who was still preoccupied with his steak. (AN: To make things clear, I'm listing them below. In the story, she's just naming and writing them in this order) "The five powers were born in Takamagahara, the world of Heaven at the time of creation. They are as follows…

Amenotokotachi – Heaven

Amenominakanushi – Sky

Takamimusubi – High Producer

Kamimusubi – Divine Producer

Umashiashikabihikoji – Reed

…according to myths, these powers eventually started to-" She was cut off by Shadowgallantmon. "Hold on a second. Divine Producer? High Producer? What exactly is it that they produce? And why the hell is one of these so called five powers named after some sort of plant?"

Sakuya set her brush down. "I believe the Divine Producer may be referred to as the one who had created the world of the gods while the High Producer created the physical universes in all four realms. The power of Sky could be seen as an inspiration to the sentient beings on each planet that could sustain life. A way of trying to get them to grow and evolve so they can touch the Sky and whatever is beyond it. As for Reed, that could mean something significant for plant life or it could have a symbolic meaning. A lesson in which species have to be adaptive like plants. Of course, these are only my interpretations on the powers so I can't be sure…" (AN: If anyone knows the real story behind Kotoamatsukami, give me a shout through the review section)

"What of Heaven? What happened to it?" asked Gallantmon. Sakuya gave it some thought. "During the creation of the universe, not only did the five powers come into existence but a large amount of entropy had formed as well." The holy knight had a blank look. GCM regarded his counterpart calmly. "Chaos. Disorder." He gave a small nod meaning that he understood.

"When the entropy had formed, it had collided with Amenotokotachi. Because of this collision, they had been spread to every single living, sentient soul. Each being has their own inner chaos and their own vision of heaven. Remember…any place can be heaven as long as you have the will to live and as long as you are happy." Underneath his helmet, GCM smiled softly. "Words to live by." He paused, remembering that he had to give his story.

"Amaterasu has said that these powers are the key to defeating our most powerful enemies. Right now, Daemon is loose in the digital world and has both his holy powers and his enhanced demonic powers at his fingertips. Then there is also the issue with Millenniumon constructing another body using the four towers, which he probably has by now." Kuzuhamon frowned. "Constructing another body…I doubt he'll want to go back to being Lunarmillenniumon…not after he was defeated. The most likely form he'll take is Zeedmillenniumon." (AN: No, I don't know what Zeed means so don't bug me about it!)

Shadowgallantmon rolled his eyes. "Great detective work, Madam Super Sleuth. You shouldn't be wasting your great brain power when there are mysteries in the digital world that need to be solved! Go, go!! For the sake of the digital world!!" Kuzuhamon responded by whacking the dark knight with her staff. He snorted as he shook his head. "Always resorting to violence when you can't come up with a cohesive counterargument. Tsk tsk…"

"Wait…you actually met Amaterasu? I'm still finding it quite hard to believe that you could have met the sun goddess herself," murmured Rika. GCM crossed his arms. "Well, we did. And she told us that there are two beings who can tap into one or perhaps some of the ancient powers in Kotoamatsukami and go head to head with Daemon and possibly Zeedmillenniumon. We…what I mean is that Takato is one of those people. The other person's identity is a bit of a mystery."

Sakuyamon finally broke her own silence. "Time is against us. Not only must we solve the mystery of the identity of the other who possesses this power but we must find a way for Takato to come back in the state that will allow him to tap into that power." GCM slowly walked in front of her so that his face was inches away from hers. "I don't suppose you represent the vision of the type of woman my lady would like to become. After all, you have done some things to suggest otherwise. Like taming our primitive-" There was a loud belch as Megidramon finally finished his meal. The crimson knight had a slightly disgusted look underneath his helmet. "You're excused."

"That mind pattern has been slowly degrading ever since Rika had started having doubts about her future. She was not in the best of condition to use this body and help her comrades so I had to take over." GCM was unsure of what to do at the moment but his natural instincts kicked in. He drew his sword out and aimed it at Sakuyamon's throat. "I will only ask you once. Who are you?"

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Daemon walked casually in the desert, searching for suitable minions that are willing to serve him. They had to be strong enough to be able to carry out his future plans. One would think that in his present state, he didn't need minions. However Daemon wanted to make contingency plans in case there was something wrong with his body. It may seem to function perfectly but he had to try to find any flaws and limits. Often when one gains great power, there is always some sort of catch…a price. In case something did happen, he would have his minions to ensure his safety from the Chosen and the Sovereigns while he is recovering. 

"Dot Matrix!" When Daemon heard that, he instinctively leapt to the side. The attack sailed right by but it had slightly hit one of his large wings. Right now, it was stinging like crazy. He turned to see who would dare attack him. 'What the?!?' There was a giant beast Digimon with wings tower over him. On the beast's side was a boy.

The boy then gave an order to his Digimon. "ArcaDemon, finish this off quickly. I wish to resume our hunt for Taichi and Zero as soon as possible!!" He started to prepare another attack when Daemon's next words startled the duo. "Neo?!? What are you doing here?!?" Then the demon lord focused on the new Digimon. "ArcaDemon…my creation. Is that really you? I had thought that you had been deleted thanks to that blasted Taichi and his Digimon!!"

Neo stiffened as he realized who the Digimon they had attacked was. Only one Digimon would refer to ArcaDemon as his creation. "Daemon…I see that you have gotten a new look. Quite interesting." The bewitching beast Digimon looked on with curiosity. "This is my…creator? He looks so much different than when I saw him as a fresh Digimon."

"How did the two of you end up together?" The tamer pondered whether Daemon had gained any special abilities due to his change in appearance. Was ArcaDemon stronger than him? He had thought so at first but with this rather new version of Daemon, he wasn't sure. For now, he would play along and gather information along the way. "I told you it was my destiny to be the partner of ArcaDemon. He comes from a different existence but it doesn't matter to me. He was quite strong before but thanks to me, he has reached mega level."

"Emotion?" asked Daemon coldly. "No. Call it an indomitable will," replied Neo with the same icy tone. Behind his mask, Daemon had a small look of surprise. Here, he had thought that when it came to humans, the only way to bring out a Digimon's power is with a surge of raw emotion but what if it was just pure willpower? That was something he had not pondered. Perhaps that was how Taichi and Zero won…not just by emotion but by great willpower.

"I may have misjudged you, Neo. There is much I do not understand about the relationship between Digimon and humans. You know…you may be able to play a useful role in the grand scheme after all. And along the way, you may find your goal." Daemon knew that Neo would make a great asset but he would still be thirsty for vengeance. He will have to gather more minions if the worst case scenario unfolds with him in a moment of weakness and Neo betraying him.

If he did not take advantage of this opportunity, they will continue to hunt him. Although he is strong enough to defeat them, they will certainly weaken him greatly and he would have to hide for a long period of time, recovering from the fight and avoiding the Sovereigns. Forcing them to become his minion would only strengthen their will and desire to defeat him and that would be a fatal mistake. "So you want to create another partnership? I don't think I'm interested. I may be able to find what I want with ArcaDemon at my side," stated Neo.

Daemon had predicted that Neo may have come up with this argument. "However, if you work with me, your chances of finding what you want will expand exponentially. With my new abilities, you will have many resources at your fingertips." This caught Neo's attention in more ways than one. "If I do ally myself with you again, what is the guarantee that you will not betray me?"

"I have finally been able to find what I want and have the means to carry out my goals without ArcaDemon. It would go much faster if you were to work with me. Once I have plunged all the realms into darkness, we can devote as much time and resources needed to help you fulfill your own personal quest of ascension." Neo crossed his arms. "I will consider your offer, Daemon."

"I will contact you again in four hours. Make you decision by then." Satisfied with the way events had resolved, Daemon took off into the air in search for additional minions. After a full minute had gone by after the demon lord's departure, the tamer asked a simple question. "So…how much stronger is he, ArcaDemon?"

"I have no clue as to the depths of his new power but in my present state, I do not believe that I can defeat him." Neo gave a small snarl. Every time when he had gained a new and more powerful Digimon, Daemon is always one step ahead in terms of power. 'Blast you, Daemon…' "So what must we do in order to increase our power?"

The bewitching beast Digimon paused for a moment. "There was a myth circulating in my world concerning an object called the Digiegg of Darkness which can increase the powers of Digimon fitting a certain criteria. If I can get a hold of it, we may be able to overpower Daemon." Neo gave a frown. "Where can we find the Digiegg of Darkness?"

ArcaDemon looked in one direction and seemed to zone in on it. "I can feel a slight tingling sense in my body from that direction. It seems that the Digiegg is coming from that direction but it has been sealed." The tamer narrowed his eyes. "Sealed? In what way?" His partner didn't move for a moment. 

"By Kindness…" The word disgusted Neo to the core. He gave a small sigh. "Well, it's up to us to free the Digiegg of Darkness from the seal of Kindness. Let's go." Neo waited as his partner gently scooped him up and placed him in a secure place before the bewitching beast Digimon dashed off to find the Digiegg.

Wow!! Talk about speed. This is what one can do with proper inspiration. Anyway, if you don't want to read the special omake, then just skip down below to the bottom where my final notes are. Various anime emoticons will be used to represent various looks on our faces.

The somewhat twisted mind of Epsilon is proud to present…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 1)

"Alright…how about this for an interesting script idea, Galacticmon? We toss Zack and his partners in at the end of episode fifteen of Frontier and then see the comedy ensue as he and his partners try to capture Calmaramon for dinner. I wonder how well she'll deep fry…" Epsilon licked his lips as he started thinking about deep fried squid. 

"I don't know anything about squid dishes, Epsilon," replied his massive partner, Galacticmon.

"Epsilon!! Epsilon!! We've got an emergency!!" The Chinese author blinked as he noticed another person running towards him. 

As soon as the other young man stopped, he started to pant heavily. "AnT? You alright?" 

He slowly breathed in and out. "Not really…there's been a theft. You know Digimon Frontier episode fifteen with Zoë and her red bikini shot? 'Sexy Dynamite'? Well…someone stole that shot from the master copy of the film."

"How did you know?" asked Galacticmon.

"We had a source from inside the studio and he saw the shot getting placed in the film. We were then informed that the studio was going to take the shot out before the episode airs and there was a petition to keep the bikini shot in. A lot of boys who liked to collect these kinds of photos signed up as well as many members of the various Zoë relationship fan clubs. You know…Takumi, Kouzumi, Junzumi. The club members were hoping that their bishounens would go nuts over the shot and try to start up a relationship with Zoë. Well, JP is already trying to do that but anyways…"

Epsilon nodded. "Someone stole the shot before the episode could air and now a lot of people are pissed off?" 

AnT wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Yeah…Max Acorn is threatening to send his Transcendent muses over to nuke the studio unless they get the shot back."

(Epsilon ^_^;;) "Uh…that's Ascendent. I think."

"Right. The episode is supposed to air three and a half hours from now. The studio won't be able to complete another shot in time because there's no sign of Zoë. She had just left the studio to take some time off and hasn't been seen since."

"Looks like I'll have to start up an investigation. Galacticmon, sorry pal but you stick out too much so I can't take you with me."

AnT gave a small smile. "You need a sidekick? Because-" He was interrupted by a loud male voice screaming. 

"AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

Then there was an angry female voice. "COME BACK HERE ASH KETCHUM!!!!!" It was Misty Waterflower, who was armed with a Bad Ass Mallet (BAM Model 2.5…If you can lift more than 20 pounds, then by hitting the target with maximum strength using this model, the target is guaranteed to be knocked out for 14 hours straight or your money back!). Apparently, she had her sights set on the boy who was running ahead of her. 

Behind her was the new girl, May. "Wait!! He only gave an honest opinion to Kuzaimon's question!!"

Then the ultimate Pokemon/Digimon hybrid came running after May. "IF YOU HURT A SINGLE HAIR ON ASHY'S HEAD, I WILL CHANGE YOUR HAIR COLOUR TO PURPLE USING PERMANENT DYE!!!!"

(Galacticmon, AnT, Epsilon O_O;;;;)

AnT sighed. "Great…the muses are going psycho again. I think Ash was asked by Kuzaimon if she was cute and she wasn't thinking of Pokemon standards but by teenage girl standards. He gave an honest answer and now Misty is attacking him. I wonder why the others haven't done much to stop Misty."

"Ancient piece of wisdom…Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So do yourself a favour and stay the hell out of the way!!" Epsilon gave a small grin.

AnT couldn't help grinning as well. "I'll have to sort this out so looks like you'll have to find a new sidekick. Well…good luck on your investigation!!"

"Thanks, man. But this shouldn't be a problem for…Epsilon, Master Detective!!" Epsilon then struck a pose with a big fat thumbs up.

Galacticmon then decided to speak. "Technically, you haven't solved any cases. And according to the Carmen Sandiego detective rankings, which is the property of Broderbund software, you would be at the Gumshoe rank."  

A scowl made its way to Epsilon's face. "Just let me have my delusions of grandeur, will ya?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

And so my side story begins! If you want to be in it, leave me a review and I'll see what I can do. I don't know how long it will last but then again, who knows? Lots of stuff going on and I'll try to answer some questions in the next chapter. Until then…see you on the other side.


	30. Third Arc, Episode X

Author's Notes: I'll do my best to give everyone as much spotlight time as I can but there are a lot of people and Digimon in the main cast so it's not easy. Also, the title of "Ascension" refers to a lot of cast members as they ascend to higher forms (whether they have quested for it or not). If you wish to be in the omake, just give me a general description of yourself like gender, nationality and age so that I can portray you as best as I can. Last…the three Digimon characters I wrote about in the opening sequence were part of a Frontier story idea that I had earlier but dropped due to Frontier not inspiring much. Catch you at the end!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 3.0

"Owwww!! Get off of me, you oafs!!" In another district of the ruined town of West Shinjuku, another quantum rift had opened, spitting out three Digimon. The first one to exit the aperture was used as a landing cushion for the other two. The two quickly scrambled off the third Digimon and both offered their hands. "My apologies, Lilithmon. I had not intended to use you as a landing cushion and-"

The female demon lord just brushed some dust off of her body as she got up. "Forget about it, LordKnightmon. Nobody had expected that to happen." The pink armoured holy knight gave a nod in agreement. Before they could figure out what was going on, they heard voices coming closer towards their location. Without wasting any time, the three Digimon leapt up to a rooftop so they could observe the events unfolding below.

There was a group of Gizamon that were engaged with a group of humans and Digimon. What was peculiar was that these particular Gizamon had a strange implant on their foreheads. "Submit yourself to Parallelmon's rule!! Or face the consequences!!" Alice gave a defiant glare. "We're not doing anything of the sort!! Do your worst!!"

As soon as she said that, the Gizamon started to roll their eyes, like they were concentrating on something. The implants on their foreheads started to react and then they all just burst into data. "Uh…what was that?" asked Kazu. Andromon's sensors started flaring up wildly. "There's some sort of strange particle that's been released into the air. It seems to have some characteristics related to a virus…everyone get back!!"

The others started to step back not Beelzemon didn't change his position. "Don't start getting panicky just yet. I got this one covered." He spread out his large black wings and started to flap them, creating some wind. Jeri smiled. "What a good idea! Leomon, you help out too!!" She rummaged through her cards for a suitable one. "Digi Modify!! AncientIrismon Activate!!" Infused with the power of the Ancient Warrior of Wind, Leomon began to assist Beelzemon in his efforts.

"Any thoughts Dynasmon?" The white armoured holy knight narrowed his eyes as he watched what was going on below. "Obviously we have traveled to another place where the events that have taken place in this history have shaped the situation before us. I know for a fact that a Digimon of Beelzemon's status would not be helping those humans. He would be killing them along with their weaker Digimon partners too."

Their conversation broke when they saw something small and white come out of nowhere and land on Jeri's head as the group was preparing to leave. As they noticed this, an odd feeling swept over Lilithmon. 'That creature carries a strange power inside of him. It feels familiar…' She remembered reading Lucemon's notes when she had begun the mission of resurrecting him and restoring the rightful order of the digital world. There was a particular note that had described a gentle golden light strengthening all it touched and allowing them to reach their next level. It was because of this that it took more time to create a cease fire between the Human Digimon and the Beast Digimon.

'Lucemon had described it as an evolutionary aid…a catalyst. Such a catalyst would surely bring us a giant step closer to our goal!! And that Digimon seems to be radiating with that light!' "Royal Knights…I have a new mission for you. You are to capture the white creature. He may have something that could assist us in resurrecting Lucemon." Both holy knights bowed. "As you wish, my lady. However Beelzemon's presence may complicate matters."

Lilithmon frowned when she thought about that matter. They had no information on the nature of the relationship between him and the Catalyst. A direct attack could work but she preferred to get what she wanted by indirect means. And there was the matter of getting back. As she thought about this, her decoy dropped out of a rift that had opened up several metres behind them. Dynasmon and LordKnightmon stood on guard in case something unexpected and nasty popped out. But all that popped out was a human girl.

Upon closer inspection, the demonic Digimon realized that this girl was a Chosen. Note the word was because the screen on her Digivice is filled with static. "A Chosen…we should put her out of her misery." Dynasmon picked up the Digivice, which was similar to Ryo's but there was yellow instead of blue, and crushed it. Then he prepared to attack the human when she started murmuring. "Beelzemon…why did you do it, Beelzemon? Why?"

Her eyes were puffy from crying so much and the tears had stained her cheeks. That meant she couldn't see very well at the moment. So when she turned and saw Lilithmon, she whispered a single word. "Mama?" A smile was on the lips of the demonic Digimon as she prepared to set up what was necessary for the decoy to do its job. "Hush, little one. Go to sleep…" The girl could not ignore the hypnotic tone and lost consciousness.

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As the scene unfolded before the group, Shadowgallantmon smirked underneath his helmet. "So much for you following your ethics not to harm a lady. In this case, do you mind if I can help out? Just give me five minutes alone and I should be able to beat the truth out of her." GCM did not turn around. "Tell us who you are underneath. If we're going to embark on this mission, then I need to be sure that I can count on everybody to do their part."

Sakuyamon gave a small frown. "In that case, wouldn't you be more worried about Megidramon? How about Kuzuhamon or Shadowgallantmon?" The crimson knight narrowed his eyes. "Stop trying to avoid the issue. At the moment, I'm considering you as a hostile entity which has taken over that body. Unless you can prove otherwise."

There was a moment of silence as the tension rose even higher. "I don't exactly know who or what I am. I can feel the weakening persona within this body and I also have some of Renamon's instincts which consists of protecting Rika. But other than that, I have nothing. This is my first time living as a sentient being. I wish I could offer some more answers but I just can't do that at the moment. I swear to you that I have no hostile intentions." Gallantmon blinked once. "So you don't even know what you were before you became…uh, what was the word again? Sentient!"

She gave a nod and waited for the crimson knight's reaction. There was a storm of emotions reflecting in his eyes as he kept thinking of what choice to make and the possible consequences of those choices. Finally, he made a decision and lowered his blade. "For the moment, I'll have to trust you." He turned his attention away to the more pressing matter. "Now we're going to have to figure out how to complete the ascension to this…level that could match Daemon-" 

He was cut off by someone giving a frustrated growl. That came from Kuzuhamon who was throwing her arms up in disbelief. "I don't believe this!! You're actually going to trust her?!? For a guy who is supposed to be the most mature out of all you dorks, you're a pathetic excuse for a leader!! Then again, you are a goggle head and I can't expect that much from you…" Shadowgallantmon crossed his arms. "I'm going to have to agree with the psycho bitch queen on the trust issue." 

Terriermon was snickering silently and made sure to hide it well as the dark knight was quickly smacked on the head for that comment. Ignoring Kuzuhamon's hit, he continued to speak. "You blindly give out your trust and that is what makes you a fool. One day, it will backfire on you and the consequences shall be quite severe. I would normally suggest killing her but since you three stooges wouldn't like that very much, I'll settle for restraining her until they can go back to just being one bitch overall."

GCM shot a cold look at his dark counterpart. "We need all the help we can get on this mission. She probably has some abilities that would be a great asset to us. She may turn out to be the key to our ascension. Who knows?" Shadowgallantmon returned the cold look. "Or she may be the key to our destruction. A walking, talking, ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment. I would rather not take that chance."

The crimson knight then spoke his next words with a bit of amusement in his tone. "You've always seemed to be the type of person who would love to take crazy and great risks to get what you want." He gave a chuckle as his counterpart smiled icily underneath his helmet. "Ironic how our roles are slowly starting to switch. Perhaps it's better that way. This means I'm the leader and I no longer have to put up with the leadership of a coward who doesn't know what he's doing!"

Noticing the slight twitch from GCM, Shadowgallantmon continued to speak. "That's right!! I question your leadership and your ability to figure out what's best in the long run!! I question your combat skills because as I recall, we were whooped badly by Daemon!!" Kuzuhamon snickered as that fact was mentioned. "I wonder what else is left in you that I should poke at…your honour?" 

At the mention of that word, GCM whipped out his sword faster than the eye could see but it was deflected by the dark knight. "Do not question my honour!!!" thundered the crimson knight. Shadowgallantmon was certainly enjoying this. "Now what? You're gonna duel me to defend your pathetic honour?!? Alright…let's go!! Right here, right now!!"

"If you two want to fight, take it outside!! Now!!!" Gennai had a furious look on his face as the last reserves of his patience had been depleted. As the shouting was going on, Ryo slightly moaned to himself since he was missing all the action. Terriermon was visibly scared and quickly hopped on to Henry's head for support. "This is really turning bad…you gotta do something!!"

The tamer nodded and chose his words carefully. "Can't you guys deal with these problems at another time? The red Sakuyamon said it herself…time is against you. This fight is a waste of time and energy and we need to put that at better use!!" The next thing he knew, he was being lifted up by Kuzuhamon. She quickly hissed something in his ear. "Shut up, Einstein!! If all goes well, then the whole dork patrol will be done for!!"

GCM placed his sword away again. "As usual, you're right. Thank you for always being the voice of reason, Henry." Kuzuhamon released the boy and started to pout, much to everyone's surprise. "I swear, somebody up there must really hate me since I'm going through so much anguish…"

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'I had better go over this again. This goes there, ensuring continuity with that event which then triggers that possibility. My goodness…how is Millenniumon able to manipulate reality so easily?!?' Amaterasu frowned as she worked on the necessary manipulations that would have to be made to completely restore the barrier between her quantum plane and the quantum planes of others.

'Being a Digimon of time and space, this stuff is second nature to him.' This thought worried her as she was growing more concerned about the synthetic Digimon completing his new body before the Chosen had a chance to find out who contained the hidden powers that originated from Kotoamatsukami. AMATERASU? DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT THAT YOU CAN SPARE?

Had she been a human, she would have probably jumped out of her skin. Instead she turned around to face Emma-o calmly. "Is there something that I can help you with?" The God of Death held up the life counter of Takato Matsuki, which was fluctuating. She blinked once. "Care to explain?" THE COUNTER BEGAN TO FLUCTUATE APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS AND FOURTEEN MINUTES AGO.

"Hold that thought for a minute." 'Two hours and fourteen minutes ago. That was about one minute after I sent the four personas of Takato Matsuki back to the digital world in the eastern realm. And by the way the four personas of Rika Nonaka were positioned…' She forced herself not to give an impish smile. "I didn't realize that Kuzuhamon was still beating up Shadowgallantmon. She's quite a bundle of energy, isn't she?"

The God of Death blinked underneath his hood. ER…YES. AS SOON AS THE COUNTER BEGAN TO FLUCTUATE, ALL DETAILS ON TAKATO MATSUKI'S LIFE HAVE UNDERGONE A RADICAL CHANGE AND ARE NOW IN A STATE OF FLUX. I CANNOT PINPOINT HIS TIME OF DEATH OR ANY OTHER DETAILS LIKE THAT. THE SAME GOES FOR RIKA NONAKA'S LIFE COUNTER. He pulled out another life counter from his robe which was fluctuating like the other one.

Any humorous thoughts had dissipated as Amaterasu started to feel even more worried. There was only one thing that she could think of that could possibly have this kind of effect on the counters. "Quantum bio-mergence…with their life counters being affected, that meant that their life-force was beginning to weaken under the strain of holding four corporeal forms." The God of Death blinked again. I BEG YOUR PARDON?

"Their life-forces are weakening and total fragmentation is becoming a bigger possibility the longer they stay like this…this is turning into a disaster!! This is just great…first Millenniumon, then Daemon, then ArcaDemon and now this. They may not even have the chance to find what they're looking for!!" Emma-o replaced the counters in his robe. IF ALL IS NOT GOING ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU HAVE PLANNED, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD STEP IN TO CHANGE EVENTS TO YOUR WILL. 

Amaterasu gave a sigh. "It's not that easy. The rules of non-interference with the affairs of mortals have been set up for a reason. The consequences are too high of a price to pay for doing the right thing." FROM WHAT I HAVE OBSERVED, YOU HAVEN'T GIVEN THAT MUCH THOUGHT ABOUT THE RULES WHEN YOU BROUGHT THE FOUR PERSONAS UP HERE. THE HUMANS HAVE AN INTERESTING SAYING…RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BENT.

"Bent, Emma-o. Not broken. Breaking the sacred rules would cause severe disharmony in the cosmos of all four realms." She smiled bitterly. "But those rules won't mean anything if things continue the way they are now. Those rules are going to be our downfall. And when Zeedmillenniumon comes to destroy us all, I'll welcome it with open arms. It'll be our punishment for not doing anything when it really counted."

How's that for the ending of the Third Arc? Well…this is it!! I'm in the final stretch of this story! One more Arc and an epilogue and this fic is done!!! And hopefully, I'll be motivated to finish up my Hacker's Net storyline as well. As for details about the Fourth Arc, all I can say is that it'll be hell…not like the real hell or the hell that Phoenix is planning for her Demon Saga story but close enough. Now that chapter 30 has been wrapped up, it's time for another episode of…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 2)

For many people, there is always one thing that ruins their day. In BlackTerriermon's case, it would be getting stripped of his TV, Internet and video game privileges. But for Phoenix, it was something else.

HONK!!!

'Great. Another freak hitting on me. Mou…this is getting tiring.' The Authoress of Angst AKA Phoenix kept walking along the sidewalk, ignoring some of the hooting coming from people of the opposite gender. If the entire male population was like that, then she would be justified in saying that there was no hope for mankind at all. But she knew of a few good males who weren't shallow. Speaking of males who aren't shallow, she noticed Epsilon running by.

He then stopped running and glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Phoenix! How's your day been going?"

"Rather fine other than the fact that I've been hit on more than a Mexican piñata."

"…I see. Well, I better get going to the scene of the crime." 

She blinked once. "Something's been stolen?" Epsilon sighed as he prepared to explain what had happened.

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'Excellent…' The bikini shot was placed carefully on a special piece of equipment. Moments later, an enlarging process had begun. 'He is definitely going to enjoy this little present…' A loud laugh was then let out.

At the front counter, Tsunami Wave blinked as the loud laugh came from behind the door of the photocopying lab. Ignoring it, the so-called immortal went back to work on the little mural. 'A little glue here and we're done!! Oh, I've outdone myself!!' (Tsunami Wave ^_^)

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"I had thought there was some hope for the male population but now that hope has shrunken to just you and a few others. It's strange how many people would go gaga over a missing bikini shot of Miss Orimoto." 

Epsilon nodded as he completed writing down a small agenda along with a small list of suspects. "Yeah. I've volunteered to solve this little caper and I was hoping to find someone to offer a different perspective. It may be the one kick to get this solved."

Phoenix thought about it. 'Ok…should I go home to study for my APs and increase my stress and probability for a mental breakdown or should I help out Epsilon in something that I think is a complete waste of time?' "Maybe you can ask DC on this one."

And right on cue, DC came up from behind her along with his muse BlackTerriermon. "You heard the news?"

The Authoress of Angst sighed. "Yes, I've already heard about the missing bikini shot."

Before DC could continue, there was a flash of light and before any of them knew it, ZeedMillenniumon was floating in front of them. BlackTerriermon took this next line out of Ascension. "Crap…crap…crap…crap…crap…crap…CRAPCRAPCRAP!!!!!"

"DC, you have completely humiliated me for the last time!!! Prepare to face my wrath!!!!" The author tried to get his partner to bio-merge with him while Epsilon cursed himself for not bringing Galacticmon. ZeedMillenniumon then fired a small ball of white light in front of DC which then stopped. The light then turned into a package of documents.

Then the dark god Digimon stated the next few words that would haunt DC for eternity. "SEE YOU IN COURT!!!! WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!" Another flash of light and he was gone.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," observed Phoenix.

DC just stared at the package and flipped through it. "I don't believe this…he's launching a civil lawsuit against me for gross misrepresentation of his character in my story Three Worlds Collide!! According to this, because of the fact that I wrote about him being defeated-"

BlackTerriermon added in his thoughts. "Might I add that it took a helluva lot of mega Digimon, mega Digimon who have kicked it up several notches and several high level Pokemon to bring down ONE Digimon!!"

"…his image of being a super tough evil Digimon has been tarnished. Other evil Digimon have mocked him beyond a certain limit because of this story and he's practically suing me for mental anguish!!" DC started to sweat nervously. 

"You know, DC…the one thing scarier than a dark god is a dark god with a damn good lawyer," stated Epsilon.

As if things couldn't get any worse, a man in a grey police like uniform walked up to the group. "Excuse me but are you the author known as DigiDestined of Courage?"

DC gave a weary sigh. "That's me. How may I help you?" He then froze as he recognized the uniform of the Digimon Fanfiction Police. These were the readers who nitpicked stories for discrepancies. Any time another person makes a complaint about a fic, these were the people who checked it out. If a fic had severe problems (lousy ACCs, self-insertions that aren't right, really bad grammar and spelling, lousy characterization…basically, general overall cheesiness and corniness), then it would be given a certain amount of demerit points. Once an author gets a certain amount of demerit points for any number of fics under his or her name, he or she had to report to the Chief of the Digimon Fanfiction Police, Alex Warlorn, to discuss how to minimize future errors and levels of cheesiness. Authors who did not comply and mischievous readers (those who abused the complaint system) were then punished by being unable to read or write fanfiction again.

The author started to sweat nervously while the man spoke. "Alex would like to see you tomorrow at four. Good day." He gave a piece of paper to DC and then left.

While DC was still trying to get this through his head, Epsilon checked out the charges. "Let's see here...Digital Eraser got him nine demerit points for rewriting a story, that was already written, for Rukato purposes. Tamers VS Dracula…fifteen!! Wow…that's what you get for mixing two worlds that should clearly be kept separate."

"I told you it would have worked better with Vamdemon, DC." Phoenix shook her head.

"And…Three Worlds Collide…thirty one demerit points!! Talk about harsh charges!! Flawed character interaction, massive self-insertion, insertion of other people…character misrepresentation on Millenniumon. Yow…" Epsilon handed back the paper and patted DC twice on the shoulder. "You'll get through this!! I know you will!"

Phoenix looked at the Chinese author. "Hey, Epsilon. Since DC is going to be busy with legal matters, I suppose I could assist you in your investigation."

"Alright!! Thanks, Phoenix!!" The two of them headed towards the Digimon studio, leaving DC to be alone with his partner.

BlackTerriermon flipped through the pages of the lawsuit. "Well, the good news is that…WE'RE GOING TO BE ON JUDGE JUDY!!!" At that moment, DC fainted.

WHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That was funny. I definitely enjoyed writing this. Holy moly…there is something seriously wrong with me. I got out three new chapters in about a week!! And I still have exams to write!! What the hell?!? 


	31. Fourth Arc, Episode I

Author's Notes: Well…this is it. In this Arc, I'm going to have to write like mad in order to clean up most of the messes I had made with my multiple storylines going on. Other minor details can be wrapped up in the epilogue, which has a name! "Unions" is the name of the epilogue and my best case scenario is that it can be written during my last month of summer vacation or something like that. Also, the Parallelmon reference is to another V-Tamers storyline which I haven't read yet. And the implants on the Gizamon heads are not Parasimon!! They are mechanical implants that help to release the virus. I hope that clears things up. Anyways…enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 4.1 

Gatomon looked around until finally finding something satisfactory to stump the other Digimon. "I spy with my little eye…something that is green!!" The Digimon partners belonging to the Digidestined were amusing themselves with a game that TK had taught Patamon when he was a little kid during the time of the digital world cleansing where the Chosen had to give up the powers of their Crests. "Is it Wormmon?" asked Veemon.

The feline Digimon shook her head. Patamon then made a guess. "Armadillomon's eyes?" She shook her head again. There was a silence as the other Digimon tried to figure it out. Then Hawkmon spotted something. "Ah…I believe that it is the little piece of material hanging on the end of Davis' nose." Gatomon grinned. "Wow, you're good!"

Davis furiously wiped his nose as the others started laughing. "Ha ha, very funny. Ho ho, it is to laugh. I wonder how much farther we have to go to get to that portal." Cody opened up his D terminal. "According to Izzy, we're closing in on the location. If we hurry it up a bit, we can start our journey to Colorado in five minutes!" 

"That's what I'm talking about-" Yolei was cut off when the group spotted a large object, moving towards them at a fast rate. As the object slowed down, Ken, Davis, Veemon and Wormmon stiffened when they saw Neo. The tamer was let down by his partner after he had stopped. "I'll make this short…surrender the Digiegg of Darkness to us now!!" 

While the others were wondering who this new guy was and how he knew about the Digiegg of Darkness, Davis clenched his fists. "Man!! He has a new partner!! How many Digimon does this guy have anyway?!?" Neo gave a sadistic grin. "Let's see here…by my count, ArcaDemon is my fourth Digimon partner. The others were deleted in battle but fortune has smiled upon me to return the partner that I had originally intended to raise!!"

Sweat rolled off of TK's cheek. "This is bad…judging from the size of that thing, I would have to say he's at least an ultimate. Maybe a mega!! We'll have to make a run for it!" Seeing how it was the best option at the moment, the group started to run towards the direction in which the portal to America lay. But ArcaDemon, with his gigantic legs, leapt over the group and easily blocked their route. Neo crossed his arms. "You are weak. I am strong. The protocol is obvious. Just give me the Digiegg and I won't hurt you."

"The Digiegg of Darkness no longer exists!! It had transformed into the Digiegg of Kindness some time ago so you're wasting your time!" shouted Kari. Neo gave a smirk. "It doesn't matter. ArcaDemon can restore the Digiegg to its original state. Now, I promise that I won't hurt you if you just give me the Digiegg."

At that moment, Ken started to laugh. What disturbed the other Digidestined was that this laugh was the type of laugh that the Digimon Emperor would give. "Do you really think we're fools? I know first hand how lousy villains are at keeping promises. If you want my Digiegg so badly…" He took out his black D3. "…here it is!! Digi Armour Energize!!!" His partner was then enveloped by the power of the Digiegg of Kindness while the others watched, wondering what type of Digimon would emerge. "Wormmon armour-digivolve to…Bucchiemon, the Pixie of Kindness!!" 

Neo started laughing. "What good can a green and white pixie do to ArcaDemon? Unless your plan was to kill us with laughter!!" Bucchiemon frowned as he examined himself. "Whoops. Wrong colour." He focused on changing the green areas of his body to red. The colour change was also an indicator of what type of Digimon he was. When he had the green colour, he was a data type. By changing to red, he also changed his type from data to vaccine. After completing the change, he fired an attack. "Heavy Beam!!"

The blast hit ArcaDemon right in the face, creating a small smokescreen. He then started to grumble. "That actually stung a bit." Ken tossed a quick look at his friends. "Get going!! Those two are interested in my Digiegg and won't bother with you! I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!!"

Meanwhile, Neo was yelling at his Digimon. "You actually felt a small bit of pain?!? Just how did that happen, ArcaDemon?!?" The bewitching beast Digimon thought about it. "The attack was powered by the Digiegg of Kindness, which has a link with the Digiegg of Darkness. He also changed his attribute type to vaccine. Finally, a minor bit of his attack hit my eyes. Therefore, I'm feeling a minor stinging sensation." Neo rolled his eyes. "Just attack them and get that Digiegg!!"

"Not so fast, Kemo Sabe!!" A white blur came out of nowhere and tackled ArcaDemon. Just as the bewitching beast Digimon hit the ground, the white blur flipped in the air and landed on the ground. "I've always wanted to say that since Taichi said that line once!!" Zero formed the Omega Sword before taking a defensive stance. Taichi ran over to check up on the others. "It was lucky that Zero caught a glimpse of ArcaDemon. Otherwise, you would have been in serious trouble."

"But now that other guy is gonna get it with Imperialdramon Paladin Mode on our side!!" Taichi gave a glare at his counterpart's protégé. "I'll take care of Neo! You guys better scram!!" Kari began to argue. "But-" "Now is not the time to be arguing with me, squirt!! Get going!!" There was another explosion as Zero attacked ArcaDemon.

As the Digidestined made their retreat, Kari gave a small growl. "Even in a crisis, he still calls me a squirt!! Aaarrggghhh!!!" Bucchiemon changed back into Wormmon as the group got closer to the TV screen. The children each took their respective D3s out and held it close to the screen. "Digi Port open!!" A moment later, they along with their partners were gone.

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Ever since Jeri Katou had become a tamer, each day that she had fought to defend her town from the strange visitors she had been physically and mentally drained. Physically drained from all the duties she has taken on during the times she was awake and mentally drained because of the havoc continuing each day with little moments of peace. But when she had met the new visitor, everything just started falling apart.

This had been the first disruption since the group of Gizamon that had been infected with a strange virus had appeared. Andromon had determined that the virus had characteristics that would be more dangerous to the Digimon immune system than to the humans. So while he, MarineAngemon, Leomon and Dobermon had left to perform some contamination tests, the visitor had dropped in. Jeri was fairly shocked that the visitor was another version of her. What had shocked her even more were her counterpart's actions when Beelzemon had walked in right after she had appeared.

The other Jeri had a spaced out look for a moment before she placed her puppet on her hand. Then the puppet started to speak but with Jeri's pain filled voice. "Why did you have to kill Leomon?!? Why did you decide to attack us?!? What did we ever done to you?!?" Beelzemon just stepped back with a small look of shock. "Whoa! Now hold on here…I don't know what you're talking about-"

The spaced out look was slowly being replaced with an almost crazed one. "Stop it!! Don't try to pretend that it didn't happen!! Just tell me why!!!" Kazu and Kenta decided to step in to try and calm her down but it was to no avail. "You demon lords are all the same!! Manipulative, heartless Digimon who only care about dominance over others!! That murderous intent runs in your code!!"

She felt herself being turned around by another person and soon found herself face to face with…herself. Then out of nowhere, Jeri slapped her counterpart's puppet away. "Don't you dare say something like that about Beelzemon!! Ever since I met him, he's worked hard to help save lives in this city!! He has a good heart and I won't let you say anything bad about him!" Before anything else could happen, they all heard Calumon cry out "Help!!!" 

Kenta gave a look outside their base. "Guys!! We've got company and they have Calumon with them!!" Alice cursed herself for not keeping a better eye out on Calumon. He was a key part of the team and losing him would deal a damaging, if not crippling, blow to their abilities to fight off invaders. "Get our Digimon here as soon as possible. We'll have to fight them if they won't give Calumon back willingly. Beelzemon, can you…?"

She trailed off when she saw the demon lord slowly change back to his rookie form and collapse on to the ground. "Aw, man!! This couldn't have come at a worse time!!" complained Kazu. Impmon rolled over on to his back and the group noticed that the colour on the face on his stomach as well as the colour on other areas was rapidly changing. The other Jeri Katou just looked at him in disgust. "Serves you right…you never were much of anything in the first place, were you?" The tone in her voice had shifted to something more sinister. She then ran out of the building at top speed with the other tamers behind her. 

When the Digimon came back from the tests, they noticed that their tamers were out front along with another Jeri Katou and two other Digimon. One had pink armour and had a rose while the larger Digimon in white armour had Calumon enclosed in his left fist. The tamers were busy looking up statistics on the two opposing Digimon. "Dynasmon is a mega level, knight Digimon. Data type…" They pointed their Digivices to the pink knight. "LordKnightmon. Same nasty type and level but this Digimon is a virus…" (AN: Go to Lelola.Net and check out the Frontier episode guide. There's a screenshot in there that I based the preceding pose on)

Kazu started to yell at the two knights. "If you two are supposed to be knights with dignity and honour and all that stuff, then let Calumon go!! What's the big deal?!?" There was no response from them until another Digimon landed behind them. Dynasmon handed over the Catalyst to the new Digimon while LordKnightmon threw away his rose. "We shall take care of them for you, my lady."

A chill went through the tamers as they saw the Digimon who landed behind the knights. She was dressed in a black robe with long fingernails sticking out of her hands. The top of her chest along with the top of her head can be seen. The black wings along with the tentacles sticking out her back gave an additional eerie effect. "Don't waste too much energy on them, boys." Dynasmon chuckled. "Although they have some notable qualities, their lack of discipline and self-control will be their undoing. This shouldn't take long."

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"We're off to see the Sovereign…some plan you have, Casanova," grumbled Shadowgallantmon. GCM gave a small snort. "That was our original plan after we had taken care of the other business at hand." After getting some rough directions from Gennai, the different personas of Takato Matsuki and Rika Nonaka had set off to find a way to combine back into one being as well as find the new power that had been described earlier by GCM. 

Henry and Terriermon had tagged along as well to try and keep order among the personas. "How are you doing back there?" The boy had hitched a ride on Grani and was holding on to Gallantmon's cape to keep from falling while his partner just hung on to his hair. "Don't worry about us. We're fine."

"Oh, my…what is that thing up ahead?" The others turned their attention to Sakuya's words and noticed what she was looking at. It was a big green blob, with a tail that had a zig zag design coming from the bottom. There was a pair of arms sticking out with big purple hands that had claws on them. A purple design was on the stomach of the creature with two spheres that resembled eyes on it. There was a small bit of hair coming out of his head, which had a steel mask on it. The wings were red in colour and each wing had three separate parts to it with a long body and a dark, dull coloured ball at the end.

Henry took out his Digivice and started to make a scan. "Metamormon is a mega level, virus, mutant Digimon. Specialty attacks are Laser Translation and Transceirave." Just as the boy finished reading the description, the blob began to change shape. GCM gasped in surprise when the blob finished changing. "It changed into Daemon?!?"

Kuzuhamon blinked in surprise underneath her mask. "That's Daemon?!? He looks like a bad ass version of a Seraphimon…" Rika had her thoughts on another matter though. "I don't believe this…that Digimon can shapeshift!! If he can also mimic attacks, then we're in trouble!!" Kuzuhamon didn't know how powerful Daemon had become but now she was going to be able to make a reasonable guess thanks to this facsimile of him.

"Oh, he can do more than mimic attacks, my dear…" The group had a shock as the real Daemon appeared beside his doppelganger. "He still has access to his own attacks. Laser Translation helps him to transform and perfectly duplicate one Digimon while Transceirave allows him to take traits of any number of Digimon it scans and mix them together." Then Daemon started to wave his arms in a strange motion while Metamormon did the same. Seven flaming balls then appeared in front of each Digimon, making a total of fourteen. "Firestorm!!!" (AN: This is Daemon's version of Strike of the Seven Stars)

"Everyone scatter!!" shouted Sakuyamon. The group split up to avoid the fireballs but one exploded in front of Grani, knocking Henry off of Gallantmon's cape. He whipped out his Digivice and concentrated as hard as he could. "Bio-merge Activate!!" The Digivice glowed green for a moment before the transformation took place.

BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION…. 

As Megagargomon landed flat on his back unhurt, Daemon was wondering what had saved the four Digimon that he had thought killed by his Dark Banishing attack. 'No matter. With Metamormon as my loyal servant, they shall not get so lucky again!!' "Metamormon, see if they have any interesting forms that you can borrow…" The other Daemon simply stated in a monotone. "Transceirave."

'Odd…I can sense that there is an alternate and powerful form residing in both of them but in their present state, I cannot make heads or tails out of it.' Metamormon continued to make a scan until he noticed an interesting combination. 'Yes…the dark knight and the glider will do just perfectly.' His body changed back into a green blob and started to restructure itself. Megidramon stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Bleah…"

Daemon kept the group busy with another Firestorm attack. "Ooh…it seems that my friend here has found something interesting after all." The blob continued to change until it resembled GCM's body in terms of height and armour appearance. However, rather than a red colour with yellow adornments, it was blue with black adornments. The best way to describe the wings was that it had a demonic dragon quality to them. An ebon blade was in one hand while a black staff was in the other.

GCM started to sweat underneath his helmet. "Gallantmon Chaos Mode. This is the resulting Digimon when Grani combines with Shadowgallantmon. His specialty attacks are Syphon Mind and Syphon Soul." Terriermon just gave a squawk of surprise in Henry's mind. "For the love of God…doesn't Guilmon ever get tired of all these multiple digivolutions?!? I swear, first it was him. Then Renamon…when am I going to get my fair share of alternate forms and stuff?!?"

'Why didn't this form arise when the quantum bio-merge program was activated? It must have been because this form has never been seen before…by any of us. And the dark aspect of Takato's essence had not been able to go this far because Takato would not allow it. Was this form a part of him that he had tried to suppress? I'll have to figure this out later since we're going to get a first hand taste of what it can do!!' GCM summoned his own weapons as he prepared for battle.

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The crystal stood in the centre of the void as Millenniumon's consciousness was enjoying the fact that finally his body was done. It had taken him quite some time to complete but it was ready to accept him. The process of settling himself into the body was a bit lengthy so there would be more waiting involved. But it would be worth it because in this new body, he cannot be defeated. He would be invincible and not even Ryo could do anything.

He had thought about getting vengeance on those pets and the children who controlled them. Killing them off one by one appealed to him but he decided against it for a few reasons. One was that vengeance can bring about one's own destruction. This lesson was shown through the death of Diaboromon. Another was that it would be more fun to let them live through the destruction, watching helplessly and knowing that there was nothing that can be done to stop him.

Before he started the process, he had made additional preparations in the infinitesimal possibility that those children would get the best of him again. It was something that had kept him occupied while the towers were being installed in the four digital worlds. This was the type of thing that would ensure a final legacy for those brats. "If I become incapacitated, then it will be up to you to cleanse everything that has gone beyond their original parameters…D Reaper." In the background, the red liquid glowed softly, acknowledging that it understood his message.

And so the fourth and final arc of this story begins. I hope that I can space out events and segments evenly so that I don't have to scrunch everything in the finale. And now, without further adieu…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 3)

"Come, Phoenix!! The game is afoot!!"

The Authoress of Angst gave a groan as she followed Epsilon to the vault where the master copies of all the Digimon episodes have been kept. 'Mou…what was I thinking?' 

She then heard Epsilon hiss a "Yes!!" underneath his breath. Before she could ask him what he was so excited about, he tiptoed over to the open vault door.

"Freeze, crimi-" He paused before giving a loud scream.

Phoenix was right by the Chinese author's side. "Are you all right?"

"It's…a…Pokemon trainer!!!" She looked inside and saw a boy with a purple star creature floating on his right. 

The star then gave an exasperated sigh. "You know, if you had put more thought into imagining me, Anime Fan, then I wouldn't be mistaken for a Starmie. Let me introduce myself…I am Trimon."

This snapped Epsilon back to reality. He quickly went inside and grabbed the boy by the collar. "Anime Fan?!? What type of lame ass name is that?!? What the hell were you doing here in the vault?!? Were you the one who stole the bikini shot?!? Answer me!!"

The boy, frightened by Epsilon's mad accusations, started crying. And we're not talking normal tears. We're talking waterworks. If you wish to see examples, please refer to Whamon's waterworks in Frontier Episode 14 or we can always refer to Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon. "I…didn't do anything!!! Wwwaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!" (Epsilon O_O;;;;)

"Nice going, Epsilon."

"Phoenix, you're not helping," replied the Chinese author in a flat tone.

Anime Fan stopped crying almost immediately. "Wow!! Epsilon!! You're the guy who wrote Beyond The Other Side and Ascension!! Can I have your autograph?"

One big facefault later, the boy was beaming because of the fact that he has obtained the autograph of one of his favourite authors. "So what were you doing in here anyway?" asked Phoenix.

Trimon decided to reply. "My friend here was looking for more shots to support Takumi, Rukato and other couples while at the same time, hunting for more photographs to add to his goggle head shrine."

"Ok…" (Epsilon & Phoenix -_-;;;)

Epsilon straightened up. "The time of the crime was approximately 1:45 PM. I would like to know your alibi at that time."

"Me and Trimon were out playing…Calvinball!!! We even have photos too!" (AN: Calvinball is the invention of Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin & Hobbes, a kick ass comic strip)

Taking out their digital camera, they showed several shots that were around the same time as the theft. "This is me hopping around to find the Bonus Box. This is me trying to tackle Trimon after he made an illegal play with the hula hoops."

"Alright, we get the idea! After a quick sweep of the place, we start checking out the Frontier cast's alibis," stated Epsilon.

There weren't too many clues as the thief did a very good job of not leaving clues behind. With nothing else to do, the duo set off to find the cast of Digimon Frontier. "I suggest we check JP out first since his infatuation was made early in the show."

Phoenix stopped. "Wait. I think I see Koji. If we talk to him now, we can save some time."

Epsilon nodded. "Hey, Koji!! We need to ask you a few questions!!"

As soon as Epsilon said that sentence, Koji broke into a run. The Chinese author narrowed his eyes. "This looks very, very suspicious."

"Let's go already!!" shouted Phoenix.

Koji decided to activate his Beast Spirit. "Execute Beast Spirit Evolution!! KendoGarurumon!"

The Beast Warrior of Light was able to move faster because of his wheels. Epsilon and Phoenix slowly fell behind until they heard a crash.

When they got to the scene, they saw that Koji, who had changed back to his human form, had crashed into someone and smashed some sort of project.

"Y-you d-destroyed Dragoon's present…" whispered Tsunami Wave.

Epsilon started to pant heavily. "Alright…huff…we got you…huff…" He was too busy trying to breathe. 

Koji stood up wearily. "Let's get this little interrogation over with. No, I am not involved in any relationship whatsoever, be it gay, straight or incestuous." He then looked at Phoenix. "And no, I do not want to be the father of your children."

Epsilon's jaw dropped to the ground. He glanced over at Phoenix, who was now twitching and had a look on her face, similar to BlackWarGreymon's before he goes on a killing frenzy.

…...by now, you should have cued imaginary cliff-hanger music in your mind.

Reader Response:

(A) Oh. 

(B) How the hell was I supposed to know?!?

(C) Sorry about that. 

(D) All of the above.

DUN DUN DAA!!!!!!

And this chapter is done!! Gallantmon Chaos Mode and Metamormon came from the Digimon Encyclopaedia belonging to the Cerebral Assassin. I made up Gallantmon Chaos Mode's attacks and made up the effects of Metamormon's attacks. I'll give out the address to the Cerebral Assassin's site later at the end or something. And I have a perfectly good explanation for the omake so Phoenix, please don't kill me yet!! I've cleaned up some things in the previous chapter but it shouldn't change things too much. As for DC's trial…I probably will save that mini side story for the epilogue. That's it for me. See you all next time…assuming Phoenix doesn't find me and rip my guts out.


	32. Fourth Arc, Episode II

Author's Notes: In a review, I've been given a website with descriptions of the entire cast of V-Tamer characters and I was able to check out the story going all the way up to chapter thirty four. It's at the Cerebral Assassin. I will give out the address at another time or if you wish, you can browse through my reviews section to find the address for yourself. Of course, this means I'll probably have to write a mini side story concerning Parallelmon (who Taichi and Davis fought in the V-Tamer/02 Crossover Manga special) and the members of Alias III so that means "Unions" gets pushed back further. As for the element of V-Tamer in this story, I split off the storyline after Disc 2 (Chapter 17) and wrote in my own timeline of events as you've seen in chapter 3 of this story. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 4.2 

"We are in so much trouble! I don't suppose we can send some sort of message to Takato and the others to ask them to get their butts back here, can we?" Kazu slashed another card to keep Andromon in the fight but the effectiveness of the card was unable to keep up with the amount of damage that he had sustained during the battle against the Royal Knights. Dynasmon summoned a large amount of energy and changed it into the face of a wyvern. "Breath of Wyvern!!"

Kenta tried to get his partner to keep stalling for time by trapping the Royal Knights in bubbles but they were moving too fast. And they weren't giving too much room so that his partner could help speed up the recovery time of his comrades. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard MarineAngemon cry out in surprise as LordKnightmon came out of nowhere and launched a Spiral Masquerade that exploded right in front of the Digimon's face. "Oh, no!! Hang in there, buddy!!" He frantically tried to find a card to help his partner. 

Grapleomon dashed forward to make an attack on LordKnightmon. "You'll pay for hurting our comrades!! Cyclonic Kick!!" Cerberusmon's mouths filled up with green flames. "Emerald Blaze!!" LordKnightmon stood there and took the attacks head on. When the smoke had cleared, there wasn't a scratch on his pink armour. He simply chuckled at Grapleomon's earlier comment. "In that case, I'll be waiting for your bill."

Impmon hobbled out to get closer to the demon Digimon who was holding Calumon and who was giving a predatory smile. He then noticed the vacant look in Jeri's eyes. She was the same Jeri that had accused him of killing Leomon. He blinked once as a part of him noticed the connection. "You played her like a puppet…Lilithmon!" He had no idea how he knew the name of the female demon. Perhaps it was the demon lord part of him that carried knowledge of the six other demon lords. 

The smile didn't leave Lilithmon's face. Before she could start to gloat, she felt the Catalyst squirm as he tried to get free. "Now, now…you wouldn't be trying to do anything foolish, would you? Because if you would, then I may have to order my Royal Knights to send your friends to their graves." Calumon flexed his ears out and gritted his teeth. 'I wish that my friends can get super strong and make these meanies sorry for being so mean!!' Lilithmon frowned as she saw the red mark glow brightly. "Shining Digivolution!!!"

She gasped as the Digimon seemed to emit a light. 'It's the power…of digivolution!!' She knew that she could not evolve further and that her Royal Knights were already at their maximum level. But the other weak Digimon can digivolve to their highest level because of the amount of energy the little one was giving off. "Alright, lady…you have three seconds to release the cream puff before I blast you!!" In front of her was Beelzemon Blast Mode who had his gun ready. His wings had changed colour to gold as well as his mask. The red scarf had been replaced by a green one.

Not too far away from where Beelzemon was aiming his blaster, LordKnightmon and Dynasmon leapt back, startled at this new development. Rather than facing three ultimate level Digimon, they were facing three mega Digimon. Anubismon, HiAndromon and Saberleomon decided to take advantage of their opponents' hesitation. "Pyramid Power!!" "Atomic Ray!!!" "Twin Fang!!"

The two knights quickly responded by firing out attacks of their own. "Dragon's Roar!!" "Argent Fear!!" A massive explosion was created as the five attacks collided. Before the smoke could clear, the three mega Digimon belonging to the tamers charged at their opponents with renewed determination.

"Alright!! Now we can really kick some butt!" cheered Kazu. Jeri prepared to take out some cards. "Let's back up our Digimon and get Calumon back from that devil lady!!" Alice and Kazu started rummaging around their cards, trying to find a suitable one. Meanwhile, Kenta had successfully revived MarineAngemon and he was ready to go back in battle. Now they could try to implement their plan to trap the Royal Knights long enough for their friends to deal them a lot of damage.

"This is going tiresome. It is time to end this fight!!" Before Dynasmon could do something of the sort, he found himself trapped in a large heart shaped bubble along with LordKnightmon. "Now hit them with everything you got!!" shouted Kenta. The two knights quickly raised their arms to shield themselves from the barrage of attacks to come. "Howling Crusher!!" "Atomic Ray!!" "Amemit!!"

The bubbles had popped as soon as the attacks collided so the two Digimon took almost every bit of it directly. LordKnightmon was not pleased by this. "You shall regret this…" The other three Digimon had smirks on their faces. "When the battle is over, remind us to find a church to make a confession!" Saberleomon and HiAndromon stopped smirking and looked at Anubismon. 

"What? Alice told me about how humans went to church to do that type of thing…" HiAndromon shook his head. "Forget about that now! We have to get Calumon back!!" Lilithmon snarled as she pondered on how to get herself out of the situation. She didn't have to think too long as a rift started opening up behind them several feet away. 

She wasn't sure if it was a way back to her digital world but it beat having to stay in this place with a good demon lord and several other mega Digimon. The thought of a good demon lord made her sick. "Phantom Pain!!" "Corona Blaster!!" Beelzemon fired a shot before Lilithmon could complete her attack.

Dynasmon and LordKnightmon shook off the effects of the attacks of the other Digimon and dashed towards where their lady was flying to. But not before Saberleomon reached her first. "Howling Crusher!!" The attack was enough to force her to drop the Catalyst. He snared the rookie Digimon in his mouth gently. "Wow!! That was kinda fun!!" Saberleomon rolled his eyes before seeing the three Digimon disappear. As soon as the rift closed, the other Jeri Katou collapsed like a lifeless doll.

Alice went over to the body and checked for life signs. "She still has a pulse. Physically, she seems to be alright." The empty look in the other Jeri's eyes started to spook Kenta a bit, although he wouldn't admit it. "I don't get it. What happened to her and why did she collapse like that all of a sudden?"

Beelzemon's right arm shifted until the giant weapon was gone. "It was Lilithmon. She's one of the more manipulative demon lords out of the seven demon lord Digimon. I'm guessing that this Jeri had an unfortunate encounter and was used as a puppet. While she distracted us, Lilithmon and her cronies went after the cream puff." Alice gave a small frown as the body seemed to sink into the ground. All that was left was a small white blink of a rift closing. "Looks like that she'll have to be dealt with by the people on her world. And they're going to have a tough time helping her on to the road to recovery."

HiAndromon started scanning Beelzemon as to why his colour had changed. "Odd…you seemed to have contracted some aspect of the virus that the Gizamon had tried to infect us with and it seems to be trying to delete your data. Your code seems to be holding off some parts of it however you will need to absorb data at a certain rate in order to make up for the data loss. It also seems that some of your physical patterns have been slightly modified but other than that, there seems to be little change." 

The demon lord crossed his arms. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem considering all the wacko Digimon that pop in here." He paused when he heard some snickering from Anubismon. "You know…the gold really does bring out the green in your eyes!!" The others started to laugh at that comment while Beelzemon snorted. "Ah, shaddup!!"

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"Are you sure we're heading in the right direction, Cody? We've been on the move for hours!!" When Raidramon stopped running to take a quick breather, both Ken and Wormmon were grateful for it as sitting on Raidramon while he runs for hours is quite tiring. "Well, this is the proper way to get to Colorado from where we exited the Digi Port, Davis. I'm quite sure I read the map correctly." Cody had to balance himself so that he and Armadillomon didn't fall off of Halsemon.

"Forget the map. Just follow the road of destruction," stated Yolei as she pointed out the many military vehicles that were burning. At the sight of the bodies and the human remains, Kari wanted to throw up. TK had to also fight to keep his lunch down in his stomach. "We had better get on the move again. Whatever destroyed those vehicles and killed those humans could still be at large!!" The boy agreed with what Pegasusmon had just stated.

Ken narrowed his eyes. "We're probably going to need Imperialdramon to fight off this Digimon who did all this damage. Wormmon, can you try and digivolve? Maybe we can access the normal digivolution protocols in our D3s!" Wormmon hopped off of Raidramon. "Here we go!! Wormmon digivolve to…" The group waited a bit and noticed a small glow coming from the rookie Digimon. But when it faded, he still remained Wormmon.

"I'm so close to digivolving, Ken!! I can taste it! Maybe if I try again after a while…" He hopped back on to his partner's shoulder. With renewed determination, the group moved down the path of destruction that the Digimon in question caused. It wasn't until Halsemon spotted something in the distance that they had found who they were looking for. "I see some explosions up ahead!"

"I don't like this. That guy looks pretty large. Could be a high level Digimon that can give us a lot of trouble if we're restricted to armour digivolving," stated Nefertimon. Cody gave a small frown and gave a quick glance at his partner. A moment later, both Armadillomon and Wormmon were trying to digivolve again. Neither of them had much luck. "I wonder how much longer we have to wait! Looks like we'll have to use the Digieggs!!" 

"Digi Armour Energize!!!"

"Armadillomon armour-digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Power!!"

"Wormmon armour-digivolve to…Bucchiemon, the Pixie of Kindness!"

As they underwent armour digivolving, the others went ahead to draw the enemy's attention. "Golden Noose!!" Pegasusmon and Nefertimon went on the offensive to dry and drag the other Digimon away but he was too big. Raidramon and Halsemon decided to try their luck. "Thunder Blast!!" "Tempest Wing!!"

The attacks virtually did no damage and merely annoyed the giant. "Leave them alone, Cocomon! You want me!!" Cherubimon merely glanced at Willis. "We're at the place where we first met!! Now what do you want?!?" That was a relatively easy question for the mega Digimon. "Destroy…"

"Hey!! Who's that kid?" asked Davis. When Kari got in for a closer look, she gave a small gasp. "I think the bigger question is…how did Suzie get here in the first place?!?" When the Digidestined and their partners saw the little girl, who was hugging a Terriermon tightly to her chest, the same thought ran through their minds. 'Henry is not going to be happy about this.'

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Henry just gasped as Metamormon, impersonating Gallantmon Chaos Mode immediately launched a Syphon Mind attack and placed the four personas of Takato Matsuki in deep trouble. The statistics that he pulled up on this new form didn't alleviate the tension he was feeling. "We don't even have a clue as to the extent of the damage that the Syphon Mind and Syphon Soul can do to anyone who gets hit by it!! This is really bad!!" Terriermon mentally rolled his eyes. "What ever gave you that idea, oh wise one?"

The boy frantically tried to figure out what to do before noticing that Daemon was preparing to attack Rika's personas. With the attributable advantage and the fact that she was in an unstable state, a strong attack by him could kill her. He quickly used the Goliath Rook to get into position. "Firestorm!!" "Mega Barrage!!" The missiles that came out of the vaccine Digimon were enough to snuff out the seven fireballs.

"You keep him distracted for just a bit, Henry! We'll help out Takato before taking out Metamormon for good!!" Before Kuzuhamon could protest at Rika's new plan, Sakuyamon grabbed her by the hair. "And you're coming with us." The dark shaman just crossed her arms and gave a small frustrated growl. 

Sakuya started to wave her arms in a strange motion before attacking Metamormon. "Amethyst Wind!!" It didn't do much damage but it was enough to allow the others to break free of his Syphon Mind attack. Satisfied, she prepared to take on Metamormon. He took a defensive stance, ready for any attack but what he didn't expect was that someone else initiated the attack. As soon as Rika launched him, the four personas were all over him, delivering as many blows as they could. Then as he started tumbling to the ground, they all simultaneously hit him with one final blast of energy. 

"HEAVEN FINAL SYMPHONY!!!" 

(AN: This group combination attack was based on one of the party time ultimate combos in Project Justice, another instalment of the crazy fighting game Rival Schools by Capcom) 

As an explosion occurred due to the final blast, GCM quickly shook off the pounding headache he was feeling. "Come on!! Let's try blasting one to Metamormon!! Get into position!!" The only response he got was a series of grunts and moderate grumbling but eventually, his counterparts were ready to go. The smoke started to clear and they could see Metamormon had been tossed in the air and was feeling quite groggy. 

"HAZARD CRUSH BLOW!!!"

The thick beam was released by all four Digimon and it enveloped the mutant Digimon. Parts of him were turning back green since he wasn't able to keep holding his form. Daemon quickly glanced over. 'Great…it seems I might have to go visit a few other planes in order to find another such as him!' When he was searching for additional minions, he had decided to see whether there were some suitable ones in other quantum planes. Since he was able to travel from one plane to another thanks to Millenniumon's spore giving him additional powers, he was able to expand his search. 

He had encountered Metamormon in a strange digital world where the Chosen children had the ability to change their shape into any Digimon they had scanned with their Digivices. (AN: I haven't read any Digimorph like fics out there so please don't bother me about this minor detail) A few simple offerings of power was all it took for him to sign up. He even provided a demonstration by taking on his form and annihilating an entire city. Once he was satisfied, Daemon transported the two of them back and that was when they had arrived. 'Enough of that…' He looked back at his giant opponent to find him gone.

"Impossible!! Nothing that big can move so fast!!" Before he could figure this out any further, someone kicked him from behind. "Now we got you!! Gargo Barrage!!" Megagargomon fired both of his bigger missiles along with several of his smaller missiles. Daemon flipped in midair, bounced off of the tumbling Metamormon and leapt high into the sky, leaving his minion to take the full attack.

As Shadowgallantmon watched, he still had the vision of the Chaos Mode fresh in his mind. He was going to need Grani in order to obtain that form but the glider won't be willing to graft with him even if he wasn't in this ridiculous state. Acting entirely on impulse, he quickly moved behind Gallantmon and shoved him off of the machine. The holy knight caught himself in midair and turned around. "Hey!! What was that for-" He stopped as he saw his dark counterpart plunge his lance into the machine. 

All the Digimon heard the machine's final loud beep before it dissipated into data. The dark knight immediately absorbed it into himself. As soon as the last of the data had been completely infused into his body, his black armour started changing into mostly blue armour. The lance and shield were replaced by a black staff and sword. Blue demonic dragon wings came out of his back and tore his blue cape to shreds. He quickly glanced over at Metamormon, who was in the process of shifting back to his normal form as a result of the amount of damage dealt to him already. "Syphon Soul!!!" The chaotic knight fired an energy ball out of both weapons. Like a pair of homing missiles, they both converged on Metamormon at the same time to finish him off. "And to the victor goes the spoils…" He moved over to absorb the data while everyone else was in shock for what he had just done.

GCM moved in front of him with his golden eyes flashing in anger. "You…you just destroyed Grani like he was nothing…how could you do such a thing?!?" His dark counterpart gave a blank stare. "Look…we're in a pretty desperate position. We got Daemon to contend with and we had Metamormon to also worry about. I realized that Grani would give me more firepower and that in the long run, he'll be better off with me than with dork face over there. My increase in power more than makes up for the minor power loss suffered by him. I guess you couldn't realize that sacrifices must be made sometimes. Some leader you are."

The crimson knight, now blinded by his own fury, swung his sword wildly at Gallantmon Chaos Mode. Megidramon then joined in the attack since GCM's anger at the dark knight affected what little mind he had. The only one from the group who didn't do anything was Gallantmon as he was still trying to understand how his dark counterpart could done such a thing without even the slightest bit of guilt. As Gallantmon Chaos Mode prepared for combat against the crimson knight and the dragon, he gave a smile which was thankfully concealed by his helmet as it would have given anybody an unnerving feeling had they seen it. "So this will end everything…"

There we go for chapter 32. Anyways, in the V-Tamer side story I have planned, I'll probably get down to finally resolving the little Flamedramon/Renamon/Flamedramon triangle that's been batted around for a while. I have a working title which is "Cause and Effect" but I don't know if that's the permanent title. I may change it…just stay tuned to keep up to date. And now, I present another episode of…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 4)

Epsilon could swear that the surrounding temperature had dropped down all the way to absolute zero (which is zero degrees Kelvin or -273 degrees Celsius. I don't know the conversion for Fahrenheit but all you need to know is that it is damn cold!!). He heard a small bit of mumbling coming from Phoenix. 'Why didn't she go and beat the living snot out of him already?' Then he found his answer through Phoenix's mumblings.

"I'm a pacifist…I'm a pacifist…I'm a pacifist…"

The Chinese author then walked up to Koji and smacked him on the back of his head. "Why in the hell would Phoenix want you to be the father of her children?!?!? Good lord, that's really freaky!!"

He blinked once. "So…you two aren't members of my psychotic fan club?"

Phoenix and Epsilon blinked right back. "Hell no!!!"

Koji gave a sigh. "Thank goodness…the members of my fan club are insane. Whenever I walk around, some of them find me and ask me all sorts of questions like 'Are you in a relationship with Takuya?' or 'Are you in a secret gay relationship with your brother?' and 'Do you have the hots for Zoë?' And most of the female fan girls want to bear my children. It's driving me mad, I tell you!"

(Phoenix O_O;;;) "I…see. So I take it that you only view Miss Orimoto as a friend? And that you had no intent to steal the bikini shot from the master copy of Digimon Frontier Episode 15?"

"That's right. Why would I want to see her in a bikini? She's not old enough to be wearing that type of provocative swimwear!!" protested Koji.

"Okay…I guess we can check Koji off the list for the moment. Let's go, Phoenix." She nodded before the two of them left the area. 

"Weird…" He was about to walk off when he heard a small animalistic growl. The smart part of him started screaming "Run away!! Run away!!" but instead, he listened to the stupid part of him which said "Duh…let's look behind and see who is making that scary noise!"

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM FOR A SPECIAL MESSAGE…

We now have the results of the poll question (which applies to anime boys and fan boys). For those of you who don't know, the poll question was "Which of the following would you rather piss off? (A) Dark God (B) Anime Fan Girl (C) Anime female character". The results are as follows:

Dark God: 99%

Anime Fan Girl: 0%

Anime female character: 1%

The idiot who has voted that he would rather piss off an anime female character than a dark god or an anime fan girl has recently been admitted to the Odaiba Hospital. The moral of the story is…DO NOT PISS OFF ANIME FEMALE CHARACTERS OR ANIME FAN GIRLS!!!!

This message has been brought to you by the Coalition to prevent Anime Boys and Anime Fan Boys from doing something stupid.

WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM…

As Epsilon and Phoenix headed out to find another cast member, they thought they heard a male yelling in terror from a distance. 

"I hope that the girl doesn't hurt Koji too badly or something," stated Epsilon.

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"I knew that it was you guys who were making me win all the time! Can't you stop using your special powers already?" Lucemon washed his hands in the bathroom. In the mirror, he could see chibi versions of Lucemon Falldown Mode and Lucemon Satan Mode. 

"It's just a game! Calm down already!! It's not like the others are going to beat the living snot out of you just for winning." Lucemon Falldown Mode gave a smirk.

"Actually, if he keeps winning the way he has now, they'll definitely do some bodily harm to him. When that happens, you can always count on us to bail your ass out and spread the wrath around!!" Lucemon Satan Mode appeared to be quite happy.

Lucemon stepped out of the bathroom and sighed. "Just stop cheating and let me play by myself. It's not that hard."

He stopped as he heard someone yelling above him. Just as he looked up, a boy fell down on him. Koji had a dazed look in his eyes. "Never knew that little girl could hit so hard with a BAM…I don't think I'll be able to move for a while." The Digimon beneath him didn't reply as he was knocked out.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

Wyld Stallyns frowned. "Dude…where is that guy? I got to get my money back so I can impress this chick I met several hours ago." There were three other people at the poker table where Lucemon was playing at. His side had a huge pile of money.

Dragoon gave a shrug and looked at his cards again while Dark AnT drummed his fingers on the table repeatedly. Then he stood up. "That's it! I'm looking at his cards!" 

He reached over and took a sneak peek. "Ah, crap. I fold."

"AnT!!! What did I say about gambling, you idiot?!?" He shuddered as his muse, Terra came up to him and started to drag him by his ear.

"You should be working on your projects and stopping Kuzaimon from giving Misty an up close and personal encounter with all of those Spinaraks!!"

"Hey!! Leggo!! Ow, ow, ow!!!"

The two remaining poker players just watched as he was taken away. Dragoon looked at the other person. "So…what have you been up to?"

Before Wyld Stallyns could reply, a skeleton in a black robe with a sharp scythe walked up to them. On his shoulder was a tiny rat skeleton with the exact same accessories. AH, POKER. I KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS. CAN WE JOIN?

SQUEAK?

"Sure. Pull up a seat," replied Dragoon cheerfully. 

Death took the cards from everyone and started to shuffle the deck while Dragoon got some books for the Death of Rats to sit on so he could reach the table. I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM THE POKER CHAMPION OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE. 

The Death of Rats blinked underneath his hood. SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK?

RONNIE LEFT THE GROUP BEFORE WE BECAME FAMOUS, REMEMBER?

SQUEAK.

Wyld Stallyns started to grumble. "Us against the Poker champion of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? That is most unfair to us, dude."

Well, that's it for me since I can't think of anything else to say. Later all!


	33. Fourth Arc, Episode III

Author's Notes: I loathe having a phone connection to connect online. Makes downloading Japanese anime episodes and music videos long and tiring. Well, I'm not going to say too many things right now so on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 4.3

"This isn't working, Davis!! I need a change in wardrobe!!" Davis blinked before realizing what his partner meant as Raidramon transformed back into Veemon. The others along with the boy's partner, Gargomon, were engaged in direct combat with Cherubimon. So far, they weren't having much luck as it seemed that the giant rabbit was toying with them. "Here we go!! Digi Armour Energize!!"

"Veemon armour-digivolve to…Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!!" With his transformation complete, the armoured Digimon went back into the battle to assist his comrades. Gargomon fired another round of bullets from the guns on his paws. "Nothing's working against him!"

"He's a mega level Digimon. What did you expect?!?" asked Bucchiemon in an exasperated tone. As this exchange was going on, Cherubimon was growing quite bored by the pitiful attempts to defeat him. Before the others knew it, a circle of small black spheres formed around him. Then they were fired out simultaneously. Digmon's eyes widened. "Watch out!!" 

Within moments, everyone had been forced back to their rookie forms except for Gatomon, who still held on her champion form. "Great! Now we have to start from scratch!! And I don't know if we have enough to take down this creep!!" Yolei was almost on the verge of wailing. "Our Digimon need to be able to digivolve as soon as possible! We should be able to do that already since it has been a few hours after Izzy installed those programs into our D3s!!" exclaimed Cody.

Willis stepped forward to speak. "Look…I appreciate all of your efforts to help but you should all get out of here before my partner causes anymore harm!! And would you mind taking the girl too? I don't think it's suitable for her to be in this type of situation." He noticed that Suzie had Terriermon in her arms again. Suddenly, the Digimon was forced out of her arms as Cherubimon began using his telekinetic abilities to draw everyone towards him. Everyone looked on in shock as he played hackey sack and kicked Patamon, Gatomon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon to the side. Then he proceeded to start a small juggling act with Veemon, Terriermon and Wormmon. From his chuckling, he was most definitely having fun. 

"Stop doing that at once!! We're at the place where we first met! Now what?!? What's next on your crazy agenda?!?" cried Willis. The destruction that his partner had created had started to affect the child mentally. Cherubimon quickly tossed the three Digimon away, close to their partners. "Go back…" Willis wanted to explode at that moment until he felt an odd wave wash over him.

'What is he doing?' He noticed that the sky was beginning to get darker and the atmosphere was getting colder. When he breathed, he could have sworn that he saw his own breath in a vapour form, like in winter. Willis looked down at himself and found that he was younger. "He didn't mean go back to the place where we first met but…go back in time to when we first met!" He looked around and saw the other Digidestined around the same age as him. But what caught him off guard was that Suzie had not changed at all. 'She didn't change…she's still the same as before. Why? I don't understand!'

What bothered him even more was the glowing object that Suzie was holding in her hand. She had taken it out of her card collection when she felt an odd tingling sensation there. It was a golden card with two very strange symbols on it. One could ask "Should she slash it through her Digivice?" Considering the fact that there was a giant evil bunny in front of her that could continue his destructive rampage throughout the world, the answer would most definitely be "yes". "Digi Modify!! Golden Card Activate!" Hey…it didn't have much of a name and she wasn't sure if she needed to say a card name then "Activate!" but she decided to play it safe.

The screen on her D-Ark flashed with both symbols briefly before firing out two bursts of golden light. Cherubimon noticed this but before he could react, the lights zipped past him and landed right in the hands of Willis and Davis. They were shocked as the Digiegg of Fate and the Digiegg of Miracles took form. "What…?" Willis was speechless. Davis on the other hand realized what to do. "Just repeat after me, man…"

"GOLDEN ARMOUR ENERGIZE!!!"

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There was a swish in the air as Zero brought the Omega Sword down to attack ArcaDemon. The Bewitching Beast Digimon caught the blade between his claws. Taichi just gasped. "Whoa!! Unbelievable! He caught the sword just like that and that sword is supposed to be painful to all virus type Digimon!!" He tried to figure out what data that he could scan with his Digivice would help against ArcaDemon but so far, there wasn't much coming to mind. "This is going to be tough," muttered Zero as ArcaDemon forced him back and used his Dot Matrix attack.

'Odd…by now, Neo would have started crowing about how his partner is the best and all that junk.' His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a strong blow to the head and the stomach. Taichi fell to the ground, out of breath. He then noticed Neo preparing to assault him again. Fighting back the pain, he rolled back out of Neo's reach. "I see that you switched tactics…" Neo simply gave a sadistic grin. "A true tamer must constantly come up with new battle tactics. But that's something that you would have never known."

He quickly ran forward to punch Taichi in the face but the boy ducked before he threw a punch of his own. Neo had a tiny look of surprise as he felt the blow. Taichi noticed this. "Zero taught me a few basics…" The other tamer coughed a bit before chuckling. "So you know how to do something else other than bark commands! How rich!!"

Taichi was about to reply when he heard Zero crash somewhere after being tossed by ArcaDemon. "Hang on, buddy!!" He dashed off towards his partner. Neo was about to follow him when he heard a voice in his head. It was soft, filled with a rare purity that he had not heard in a long time. "Neo…" He felt himself go pale as he heard the voice and immediately tried to find the source of the voice.

'It's impossible!! She's in a coma back at home…' His thoughts were interrupted when he saw the ghastly image of his younger sister, Rei Saiba. "Neo…what happened to you? You used to be so nice. Why did you decide to become mean to everyone?" asked the image softly. He shut his eyes as memories started playing themselves in his mind.

(flashback)

"Hey!! You won't believe what happened!!" Rei and Neo turned back to see their friend, Hideto Fujimoto wave his arms frantically. "My virtual pet had digivolved to Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon!! Is that cool or what? I've thought up of names for them! Org for Wargreymon and Meruuga for Metalgarurumon!" A smile made its way onto the girl's face. "Wow!! I have to see this!!" 

Before Neo could react, she started crossing the street without looking just as a bus made a left turn to drive across the crosswalk. Hideto gasped and tried to warn the girl but it did little good. The image of Rei being struck by that bus was seared into Neo's mind forever. While Hideto went to get help, Neo stayed by his younger sister, who was now unconscious. "Hang on…stay with me, Rei!!" The scene then shifted forward from the street to the ambulance. Medical personnel were attending to Rei to keep her stable. 

The next scene was in Rei's room at the hospital. "We did all that we could but…at the moment, she's in a coma. Her chances of recovery are pretty slim. And because of that accident, she won't be able to walk for the rest of her life. I'm sorry." The doctor left the room to allow the family to be alone with Rei. Neo decided to slip out at that moment and saw a masked boy, a blonde girl and the one responsible for Rei's accident waiting outside.

The blonde girl, Mari Goutokuji, went up to him and gave him a hug. He barely even flinched as she touched him. "I'm so sorry, Neo…" He gently pushed her off before glaring at Hideto. "It's…it's my fault that Rei had this accident. God…" There was no reaction from the other boy until he grabbed Hideto and punched him.

"Damn straight, it's your fault!!! Because of you, Rei is never going to walk again!!!" Hideto gasped as this revelation as he held his swollen cheek. Neo then dashed out of the hospital. Mari and Hideto had concerned looks on their faces and were about to go after him when the masked boy, Sigma, stopped them. "He needs to be alone right now. Just let him be."

(end flashback)

Every single detail of that accident was slowly replayed in his mind when he first laid eyes on that ghastly image. "This can't be…you're not my sister…you can't be my sister!!!" Taichi had finished helping Zero recover when he noticed Neo ranting like a madman. He then noticed the ghastly image of a girl. "What is she doing here? Who is she?"

At the same time when Neo was going through this, ArcaDemon was seeing things himself. He could see transparent images of three humans and three Digimon. From the look of things, the Digimon seem to be introducing themselves to the humans while the humans are quite unsettled at the fact that Digimon are quite real. One particular Digimon had caught ArcaDemon's eye. It was the same one that he had absorbed when he was a baby…

(flashback) [AN: The place where ArcaDemon came from does not follow the V-Tamer manga storyline. I made up a few things to ensure continuity when I mentioned ArcaDemon absorbing Ebonwumon back in the early chapters of the Second Arc]

When he had become aware of everything around him after his hatching, he could hear the angry protests of a boy. For a newborn, he had very good senses. He was a white haired boy, who was being restrained by a blonde girl and another black haired boy. They were trying to calm the white haired boy down but they were having trouble so a female Digimon had to come in and restrict the white haired boy's movements. "This was what Neo was obsessing about?" The baby noticed two boys towering over him. One had a strange mask on while the other had a very odd hairstyle. 

"That's right, Sigma. He wanted to raise ArcaDemon as his partner. This guy is supposed to be amazingly strong. Man…I owe you guys for helping us get rid of Daemon. I don't know what would have happened if he continued his reign of terror in the digital world. Too bad the price of victory was Omnimon's life. Hideto must be devastated…" Sigma made a small motion with his head and a clown Digimon stepped forward. "We have to kill this baby, Piedmon."

Taichi shot a quick look at his partner, who was in ultimate form. "Zero, you help out too." Both Digimon positioned themselves in attack positions. "Trump Sword!!" "Dragon Impulse!!" Before either attack hit, the baby had sprung forward and attacked Piedmon. Using his tentacles, he attacked certain spots on the clown Digimon. Within moments, he was uploading the data.

"Good lord!!" cried Sigma in horror. Neo on the other hand started to laugh out loud, happy that his baby was alive and thriving. Mari quickly took hold of Neo. "We have to get out of here before that little kid sets his sights on the rest of us! Rosemon, create some cover and don't do anything foolish!! Hideto, Sigma…give me a hand here! I don't want Neo getting out of control!"

As soon as that last bit of data was absorbed, ArcaDemon digivolved straight to his rookie form, which consisted of an odd pink humanoid body. "Alright, big boy…I'm over here!!" ArcaDemon just gave a puzzled look at the mega Digimon who was trying to get his attention. 'If the guy can delete Piedmon like that, then who knows what he could do at full power!!'

Hideto ground his teeth slightly. "We've got to find a way to stop this guy before he gets even stronger! If we leave him…he'll probably be able to nuke the entire digital world by the end of the month or something!!" Sigma slowly backed up. "It's called a strategic retreat. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to do anything in the future!!"

That was the last time he ever saw Neo. He didn't pursue them because he was still trying to get oriented with everything else around him. Throughout his time in the digital world, he engaged the Rosemon and the one called Zero from time to time but they always pulled back and allowed him to continue on his way. They had constantly tried to use a plan to stop him but each one was not good enough to do anything serious.

It started to bother him greatly as he grew stronger and older. The fact that they kept annoying him was a key part in his decision to hunt and kill them all. He eventually got his claws into Rosemon but Zero and Taichi had a strong will to survive. ArcaDemon had to understand their instinct for survival and perhaps the only way to do that was by absorbing the data of the Sovereign himself. It gave him quite a different perspective…

(end flashback)

Taichi and Zero slowly backed up, wondering why their opponents were acting so strange and what those transparent images were doing around them. The images seemed to stay for a bit before they vanished. This raised even more questions but he had no time to ponder them as he heard Neo shout an order to his Digimon. "ArcaDemon…destroy…kill…now!!!" The white haired tamer had one final goal on his mind and that was to defeat Taichi. To him, that would solve everything and make the world and everything else in it right again. Zero quickly prepared an attack of his own. "Hyper Prominence!!"

ArcaDemon swung wildly and redirected the attack with his claws into another direction away from them. Taichi noticed the way he was breathing. "I don't like this!! I think that they might be going nuts over something…this is going to make them a lot more unpredictable and dangerous!!" Before Zero could reply, ArcaDemon dashed towards him and knocked the Omega Sword out of his hands. Then he started attacking with his claws. Zero kept moving and blocking the physical blows as best as he could but the other Digimon kept hitting his armour. Finally, he forced Zero back and fired his attack right in his face. "Dot Matrix!!!"

"Zero!!! Get up, buddy! ArcaDemon's going to attack again!" It was difficult for Taichi to imagine that a majestic Digimon such as Imperialdramon Paladin Mode could end up as a battered and broken Digimon. The armour had several cracks and there were some parts that were broken, revealing bruised blue and purple skin underneath. Neo was laughing loudly. "That's right!! All you can do now is watch helplessly as your partner is deleted before your eyes!! ArcaDemon…attack!!!"

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'Man…I am bored.' Ryo Akiyama lay inside the room, still trying to recover from the kick that Kuzuhamon had given to him a few hours ago. Gennai had came by and fed them lunch before heading out to do some work. The legendary tamer had wondered if there was a faster way to recover from a powerful kick to the crotch. 'Some recovery plan…I've got to lie here and let it recover naturally. It'll all work out…yeah, right.' He didn't notice the nudging that was given to him by Monodramon. "Ryo!! We've got to get out of here!!

The boy sighed. "That won't be happening for a while. Anyways, I'm sure the others aren't having too many problems." The rookie Digimon shook his head. "Put it this way…my Double M sense is tingling!!" That was Monodramon's way of saying that he could sense that Millenniumon was on the move.

This got Ryo's attention. "This is bad. We've got to find a way to get better and fast!" Monodramon crossed his arms. "Why don't you first try using a Modify card to make me recover?" It took him a while to reach his cards and find the appropriate one to slash through. Within moments, Monodramon was feeling mostly better. 

"Next step…we merge into Justimon." Ryo blinked once. "You sure that as Justimon, we'll be fully ready to go?" Monodramon shrugged. The legendary tamer gave a sigh before taking his D-Ark out. Hopefully, he can figure out what Millenniumon was up to and stop him before he starts causing more trouble. "Bio-Merge Activate!!"

BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION… "Monodramon bio-merge to…Justimon!!!"

Ryo then found himself standing upright, without too much difficulty. "Alright!! Now let's get out of here! You can fill me in on the way." The android Digimon stepped out and politely asked Gennai to open the door. He quickly opened up and soon the android Digimon was running in a direction that Monodramon had pointed to. "I think Millenniumon has finished with the towers and now he's getting ready to make a big comeback!"

It frustrated the legendary tamer that he couldn't know all the answers when it came to Millenniumon. "How do you know for sure? Can you give me some piece of evidence that he's coming back other than your tingling Double M sense and the fact that once he was temporarily your neighbour in your head?" He then stopped as he saw a transparent image of a whole bunch of people with their Digimon. The humans all looked like that they were wearing some sort of military uniform. 

"Millenniumon's transition to the physical plane can be further evidenced by occurrences like these. You see…he's breaking down the barriers between the realms. The fact that we can see them…" Monodramon paused as the group of humans noticed Justimon and simply stared. "…and they can see us is proof that the barriers are weakening. I don't know what will ultimately happen if Millenniumon emerges."

Ryo had a grim look inside his sphere. "I think I do. There have been some amazingly strong Digimon with abilities similar to Millenniumon's making themselves known. Millenniumon will undoubtedly want to get rid of them all and there'll be a battle of titanic proportions. And if all the fighters attempt to bend space and time to their own advantage in this fight, it's a safe bet that all of reality will implode."

Well, here it is. Thanks for putting up with me for the past two weeks roughly. Procrastination and my trip to Anime North delayed this for a bit. Hopefully, I can beat the procrastination problem. Now that I've finished here, onwards to another instalment of…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 5)

"Start talking…now!!" Epsilon and Phoenix were in a dimly lit room, with a tied up JP Shibayama. They had bound him and made sure that he couldn't get away since he was the most likely suspect of the entire caper. Currently, Phoenix was playing the bad cop while Epsilon played the good cop.

"I would do as she says…" Phoenix was still a bit sour from the Koji incident earlier. The fact that she had to constantly deal with an unfair life along with crappy stories throughout the Digimon section had put her patience to the limit.

JP was currently freaking out. Wouldn't you freak out if two people grabbed you out of nowhere, emptied your pockets of all its items, tied you up and asked you crazy questions? "I don't know what you're talking about! I swear I don't know anything about the bikini shot!!"

Phoenix massaged her temples before crossing her arms. "Alright then. We'll do this the hard way…"

"You're not going to hurt him, are you?" asked Epsilon in an almost fearful tone.

(Phoenix ^_^) "Of course not! I'm going to torture him in a non physical way…come on in!!"

A boy along with his Digimon entered the room. Epsilon frowned. "Who are you?"

"I'm Akira and this is my partner Lizardmon." The small Digimon waved.

Phoenix was ready to head out. "Alright…the minute you get any useful information out of him, call Epsilon." That was the Chinese author's cue to hand them his cell phone number.

As the duo departed, Akira and Lizardmon prepared to get down to the task at hand. "Seriously…you are the most likely to steal a bikini shot of Zoë so start coughing up answers or else..." Lizardmon eyed the items on the table next to JP. One Digivice, containing the Human Spirit of Thunder…and a hell of a lot of chocolate. "…we start munching on the candy!!"

"I don't know anything, I swear!!" wailed JP. Akira shrugged, took a bar and proceeded to unwrap it. When he took a bite, JP cringed as if he was in brutal pain.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment!!!" cried the boy as Akira and Lizardmon prepared to munch on chocolate to further torture him. 

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"I don't know if we really should check out Tommy's alibi. I mean…why would he be interested in that type of stuff at his age?" asked Phoenix as they neared the child star's room. A janitor was using a cleaning machine nearby and was making a fair bit of noise.

"I have to check out everybody…even the small and unsuspecting ones…" mumbled Epsilon.

He could hear some noises from the room inside but he couldn't make much out except for bits of mumbled speech. "Yeah, baby…come to papa. That's right…"

Epsilon now had a disturbed look on his face but he restrained himself and continued to listen. Phoenix on the other hand felt that she found another piece of evidence about mankind's deterioration with young boys going gaga over bikini chicks. "So beautiful…give me everything you got! Show me some love!!"

'That's it!!' Epsilon barged into the room and was about to do something drastic when he saw the video game screen with Tommy at the controller. He was so startled that he dropped his guard. Because of that, Ultimate Rugal executed a level 3 Genocide Heaven Super Special Move using the N Groove and wiped out Tommy's character, which was a ratio 4 Shin Akuma using the K Groove.

"Aw, no!!! I was poking him and prodding and teleporting!! I could have won with Shin Akuma against this guy!!" 

Phoenix was bewildered. "You were making all that noise because of a video game? I don't believe this!"

"Unbelievable!! Why were you using K Groove with Shin Akuma? It's just wrong! His wussy stamina won't last long enough for the K Groove to charge up for a level 3 move!! Unless you stick to the Just Defend mechanic but that's not really effective!!" exclaimed Epsilon.

Tommy blinked. "Oh? I mostly use K Groove with a lot of my other characters. It seems to work well with everybody…except this guy!"

"Listen to me…if you want to use Shin Akuma against Ultimate Rugal, I suggest C Groove. The Air Blocking mechanic eliminates a TON of punishment…"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Thank you very much. You may leave now…" The delivery boy left the door, having delivered the package to Takuya Kanbara. He closed the door to his room.

"This shot will go nicely with my collection of photographs." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a part of his collection, which had a few shots of Kazemon. He was planning to get some Zephyrmon shots soon to add to the collection.

There was another knock at the door. 'Odd…who could it be?' He opened it and was very startled by the look on his visitor's face.

"Hey! Uh…what's up? Something bugging you?"

There was a chuckle. "Not at all, Mr. Kanbara."

He started to sweat. "Then would you mind…not creeping me out? Please?" He backed into his room nervously as the visitor stepped forward with a very odd smile.

"I have a little surprise for you…" A moment later, a thump was heard, meaning that someone had just collapsed on the floor.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Roll!! Roll!!!" Epsilon pressed a button and had Shin Akuma roll underneath Ultimate Rugal. 

'So far, so good…poke and pressure. Minimize combos unless you can pull them off for sure!!' The hit and run tactic was doing quite well as Ultimate Rugal's life bar was at around 20% of full health. But he still had a 5% lead over Epsilon's character.

'Wait…he's teleporting again!' A "HAHAHA!!!" was heard from the television screen.

"EAT THIS…SHUN GOKU SATSU!!!!" Epsilon punched in the sequence for Shin Akuma's Raging Demon super. His character flew across and grabbed Rugal at the end of the teleport sequence. Thirty three hits later, a large piece of kanji was on the screen with Shin Akuma standing over the defeated Ultimate Rugal.

"You did it!! You did it!!!" shouted Tommy. Phoenix shook her head in disbelief as Epsilon and Tommy linked arms and started dancing around, singing 'lalala' like Taichi and Zero in V-Tamer.

"Mou…apparently someone out there has deemed me worthy for eternal damnation…"

Well…the conclusion of the Case of the Missing Bikini Shot should be up in the next chapter. Until then!! By the way…I actually got Ultimate Rugal once with the Shun Goku Satsu!! It was great!!! 

Note…I don't claim authorship for Capcom VS SNK 2, alright?!?


	34. Fourth Arc, Episode IV

Author's Notes: To answer a few questions from Angel…I already have my plate full with the 02 Cast and the Tamers cast along with characters from Japanese theology. So I doubt I'll be able to properly integrate the Frontier cast in the story. Besides, the storyline is almost done. The bikini shot omake is also coming to a close but I'll be starting up a new one which concerns DC's trial with ZeedMillenniumon as the plaintiff! Finally, there will be two mini stories after this book to wrap up the storyline. "Homecomings" will be the name of the V-Tamer story (I'll probably stick with this title. Final title choices will be posted on the finale of Ascension) and "Unions" will be the name of the multi-part epilogue. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. All names mentioned in the omake are not mine except for my own.

Ascension – V 4.4

Gallantmon could still hear the battle cries and the typical villainous laughter and mocking from Daemon as he lay on the ground, his body wracked with physical injuries from the fight that his other three counterparts had engaged in. Eventually, it'll all be replaced by screams of pain and terror as well as more villainous laughter. What chilled him to the core was how fiercely GCM and Megidramon fought against Gallantmon Chaos Mode. 

The images were seared into his mind as both the dragon and the crimson knight charged forward in a blind rage. Their opponent simply stepped out of the way. He seemed to pause for a moment, contemplating how much power he should pour into his Syphon Mind attack. After all, he still had a connection to the both of them. He didn't have too much time as his opponents came charging again. Without even thinking about it, he twirled his ebon staff and smashed it against Megidramon's jaw while blocking a sword slash from GCM.

'Damn…that's going to be sore for a while…' He slightly winced as his jaw tingled. With this small distraction, GCM used his right hand to hit his counterpart in the head with his own staff. But because of his positioning, the damage wasn't that extensive. Gallantmon Chaos Mode kept moving back as he blocked the consecutive attacks made by GCM. Sooner or later, the dragon would come back and cause even more problems. It was time to take him out of the fight.

The first time he had experienced the effects of Syphon Mind was when Metamormon used it on them just a while ago. And because of the different personalities that the attack focused on, the thoughts that were forcibly played in his mind were random and incoherent. But should the attack focus on a single mind, there could be more damaging effects. Gallantmon Chaos Mode began to concentrate and just as he did, a white light in a strange design hovered over him (AN: Looks like the 15th Angel from Evangelion), ready to strike. "Syphon Mind!!" The light design turned into a single beam and went straight into Megidramon's head.

As the attack brought out whatever little hidden thoughts that Megidramon may have had and exposed them to the other three, GCM and Gallantmon were horrified at the destructive imagery that the dragon had inside. Considering this form would be the best form that the power of the Hazard would respond to, it shouldn't be too surprising to find that type of imagery. Gallantmon Chaos Mode smiled. "This is the Hazard in all its glory. Truly splendid, don't you think?" There was no response.

While GCM was still distracted, Gallantmon Chaos Mode went out on an assault against his counterpart. He quickly knocked out both weapons before throwing a few blows to the solar plexus. Had it not for the connection between himself and the others, he would have kept attacking at a relentless pace. His slight hesitation allowed GCM some room to breathe. "You're finished!!" The dark knight willed himself to ignore the physical injuries, brought his staff over his head and prepared to strike.  "Blutgang!! Gungnir!! To me!!!" By calling out the names of his weapons, the lance and the sword flew straight into his hands.

As soon as the staff came down, GCM raised his sword to block it. He quickly eyed the other holy knight who was in no condition to fight, either mentally or physically. "Odd. I'm not hearing your rants about how I supposedly betrayed the trust of the others and all that crap." Again, there was no response. Gallantmon Chaos Mode snorted. "Don't try to deny the fact that you tried to trust me. The look on your face when I destroyed Grani confirmed that fact. It was a look of shock in the face of treachery."

GCM narrowed his golden eyes. "We were in this together. Whatever happened to us also happened to you. I had thought that was enough of an incentive for you to stick with us…and for me to put some trust in you. It appears that I was mistaken." The dark knight smiled underneath his helmet. "You finally realize how foolish it was to blindly place your trust. Hurray for you…" The crimson knight flew back for a moment.

Meanwhile, Daemon was busy toying with the others. Perhaps an appropriate analogy would be like a predator playing around with the prey before delivering the killing blow. How much longer the demon lord Digimon would keep doing this, Gallantmon had no idea. But it was only a matter of time until the entertainment value of toying with his friends dwindled down to zero and Daemon would blast them into oblivion. 

There was a small shift in movement as he heard his friends try another attack. "The first time was amusing, but now you're getting tiresome." Daemon formed seven small spheres of fire. "Firestorm!!" The seven balls of flame flew at an amazing speed towards the group. Megagargomon opened up several barrels to launch his missiles to try and nullify the attack. "Mega Barrage!!"

Another noise was heard as the two swords belonging to GCM and Gallantmon Chaos Mode clashed again. He had noticed that Megidramon had gone silent so it is obvious that he has been incapacitated. 'When will all this madness stop?' thought Gallantmon before feeling another jolt of pain through his body. Then he noticed his hand appeared to be trying to keep itself together. 'I just had to ask…'

He heard the small grunts of pain from Gallantmon Chaos Mode and GCM. "Our bodies can't keep themselves together…now you see the consequences of your actions! It has sped up the fragmentation process because of you absorbing Grani's data!! And now we're going to die from it!!" This time, there was no response from the dark knight. Not because he had no witty reply to his counterpart's accusations but because of the fact that up above the group, he saw the sky starting to bend and distort oddly. And that usually meant something big was coming.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

'What is this…?' Zero found himself swimming in a sea of memories. He didn't have that many good ones before his tamer, Taichi Yagami showed up in the digital world and since then, they've been quite a team. Some of the more intense memories were the fights against stronger Digimon who have guarded the Tags to get into the castle. Myotismon, Metalgreymon and that damned Etemon stood in their way but they overcame those obstacles over time.

He heard Taichi speak again in another memory. "Dear lord!!! What is this stuff?!? It's disgusting!!" That must have been the time when they were experimenting with what type of herbs would prove to be highly useful as a medicinal treatment. Zero gave a small frown. What was the significance of all this? This wasn't the time to stroll down memory lane. Another memory struck him as he was thinking about what was going on.

That was just after the first big battle to obtain the first tag. Taichi was bandaging up his partner while Gabo just stressed out as usual. "Did you see the look on Triceramon's face just before he got deleted? What was that all about?" The tamer hesitated before replying. "I'm not exactly sure but it could be that he was looking back at his life and the choices he made. Reflecting and wondering what it would have been like if he had taken another direction. Hey, I'm no expert on this stuff, you know!"

Zero's gasp was amplified as he realized that the same thing was happening to him. 'I can't leave Taichi!! Without me, who will be there to stand by his side? To cheer him up? And most of all…who will be there to do all the posing, the singing, the dancing and the speeches that make up a key part of the 100% Combination?!?' The Digimon found a new resolve and struggled on making his way back to his tamer.

When he awoke, his whole body felt like that it had been tossed, rolled and beaten like pizza dough. He could see ArcaDemon, charging up for what was to be a finishing move. He could see Neo, grinning like an insane maniac and who was certain that the destruction of the 100% Combination would make everything all right again. He could see the distorted images strengthening and weakening in an odd pattern before finally vanishing. "Damn it…I don't want it to end this way!! Zero…"

He saw his tamer, shedding tears with a high amount of anger and frustration in his eyes. "Dot…" Zero saw his tamer staying close to him, even at this moment of death. Of course, the amount of power in the attack would probably kill him as well. "T-Taichi…" That was all he could stammer out. He felt the boy climb into his giant hand and leaning his forehead into one of his fingers. "…Matrix!!!"

Neo starting laughing as a spectacular explosion rocked the digital world, signalling the end of his arch-nemesis. "Victory is mine!!! I have finally proven that I am the superior tamer!!! ArcaDemon!! Make sure that they are both dead!! And while you're at it, find some piece of memorabilia like those stupid goggles!! It will set aside the doubts that may arise in the hearts of those who would question this victory!!" ArcaDemon said nothing as the smoke continued to blow.

He then noticed an odd glow and a new shape taking place out from where the body of Imperialdramon used to lie. 'Odd…I had better finish this.' He charged up for another attack. "Dot Matrix!!!" As the beam erupted from his body, he saw a sword come out of nowhere and split the beam into half. "Alforce Saber!!!"

As the smoke started clearing, Neo gasped as he saw a new Digimon appear from out of nowhere. He had a Veedramon shaped head with a face mask and large blue wings, with the inside parts being red. Some parts of his blue body were covered with white armour and gold trimming. A greenish energy blade has extended from one of his right wrist gauntlet. "W-what?!?" The tamer had been completely caught off guard for this. (AN: There's a photo at the picture website I mentioned way back in chapter 8. Just check out the V-Tamer booster)

Inside the new holy knight Digimon, Zero could feel Taichi's essence all around his body. His tamer didn't seem to be anywhere in particular until he heard the boy's voice. "Holy moly, that was a close call!! Hey…I can see through your eyes and…man, that's super cool!! I don't know what happened but I think I'm now a part of you! Or something…I can see my hand and my original body but it's all bathed in a weird yellowish orange colour!" Zero grinned to himself. "Really? Neat! Alright…it's time to do some butt kicking as…Alforceveedramon!!"

He started to draw something in the air. From Neo and ArcaDemon's perspective, they couldn't tell what it was. But if someone that was flying high above and towards Zero looked down, it could see that he was drawing a V shape. "Shining Vee Force!!" As soon as he finished the drawing, the giant V shaped blue energy arrow was fired straight at ArcaDemon. He wasn't able to fire a Dot Matrix to counter this in time and the move was too fast for him to dodge so he raised both his arms and blocked the attack.

Bits of his skin started to split apart and disintegrate but ArcaDemon did not waiver. Neo started to shout again. "Don't let these weaklings defeat us!! We are the true powers of the digital world!!" But as more of ArcaDemon was destroyed, more of Neo's will to fight went along with it as well. Finally, the energy arrow destroyed the Digimon's arms and finished off the rest of the body without too much of a problem.

"It's over…" Zero sheathed his Alforce Saber into a scabbard before it disappeared back into his body. He quickly went over to check on Neo and found the boy lying on the ground, with a blank expression in his eyes. Taichi gave a small gasp. "He's in…a coma?" There was no response from the catatonic boy as Zero gently picked him up.

"We better get going. I'll start feeling better when we know that the others are alright and we should also lend our assistance in trying to resolve those other major problems that they have on their hands." Zero gave a mental nod before noticing that the Omega Sword was still stuck in the ground. He pulled it out before examining it. "Still looks in good shape. We can keep this as a back up weapon." 

"Or we can pass this along to someone else. And I have just the candidate in mind…" Zero knew who Taichi was referring to. Without saying anything else, he blasted off into the air to reunite with his friends. As soon as the dust cleared, the image of Rei Saiba reappeared with a worried look on her face. "Brother…"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

The continuous ripping of the sky above them halted the fight between Daemon and the other tamers. While the others were at a loss about whom or what was causing this phenomenon, Daemon was seething with fury. 'You always keep doing this…coming back when everyone least suspects it. Damn!! I should have made some contingency plans!!' He paused for a moment, reconsidering his thoughts. Ever since he had gained all this power, he has not needed to spend an excessive amount of energy planning his moves.

A sphere had started to form with red and blue parts intertwined. Slowly they began to unravel and stretch themselves to each form a hideous head and an arm. Data lines began to surround the new body in some strange pattern. 'So now I'll be able to exactly determine the full extent of my power and how I fare against another dark god…' The two heads woke up simultaneously. 

The both of them took a deep breath and exhaled deeply. "Freedom is truly the sweetest fruit next to vengeance," stated the red head absentmindedly. The blue head continued the reaction to freedom. "Yessssss…" They both focused on the group that was assembled down below. This time, both heads spoke as one entity. "My greetings to all of you…" 

"That was definitely not what I was expecting him to say after all that captivity. I would be thinking that he would want to go on a rampage and laugh like a megalomaniac as he destroys all of space, time and reality…" Terriermon ranted on and on inside Henry's head. The Chinese boy sighed. "Odd how a dark god seems to be better at manners than you, Terriermon."

He focused on getting every bit of information that he could get on the new form of Millenniumon. "So this is Zeedmillenniumon…he's a dark god mega level Digimon. His specialty attacks are Time Destroyer and Chrono Paradox. No specific information on those attacks…" The tamer made a personal note not to find out personally how those attacks worked on an opponent.

"What? You're not going to say anything? Not even a simple 'hello'? What's wrong with you all?!? Sure I may be a dark God who's bent on annihilating all of reality but that doesn't mean I necessarily have to be rude! Sheesh!!" They all blinked at Zeedmillenniumon's reaction. Daemon was the first to speak. "I had heard stories about your rather odd character swings but this…is truly…" He could not finish his sentence as he was just too flabbergasted at Zeedmillenniumon's behaviour.

This outburst from Daemon caught the dark god's attention. "Daemon…I've been wanting to meet you for some time. Ever since you unlocked the powers from my Dark Spore that I've unleashed when my first body was destroyed, your status has risen and now you are in a position to challenge me." Daemon levitated himself to make eye to eye contact (sort of) with the other Digimon. "Know this…you have had your time as the dark god, the master of time and space and as the supreme evil of the digital world. Since I was the first one to obtain that status when you were absent, it is only fitting that I gain that title. But now there are two of us. Reality isn't big enough for the two of us."

Both heads gave a sick grin. "Oh, I agree with you. About the reality isn't big enough for the two of us comment. You will simply have to go." Daemon snarled and prepared to attack. "Dark Banishing!!" Zeedmillenniumon summoned a giant black energy field to block off the attack. (AN: Picture a black coloured A.T. Field from Evangelion) Daemon looked in astonishment.

The heads grinned again. "I've come up with an additional number of tricks while in limbo. Time Destroyer!!" Bolts of electricity were fired from the dark god. In addition more bolts of electricity seemed to come out of nowhere from everywhere at once and tried to attack Daemon. Good reflexes on the demon lord's part prevented him from taking any serious damage. "Firestorm!!!"

"This is great! If they both delete each other in this fight, then I get the biggest jackpot of data ever!!" Kuzuhamon had a bit of a giddy feeling running through her. But Sakuyamon wasn't sharing the feeling of giddiness. "We've got to stop the both of them at once! Before they cause anymore damage to the threads of reality!!"

Both Rika and Sakuya gave alarmed looks as she continued to speak. "Both of these Digimon are trying to bend time and space to their will in this fight. If this keeps up, space and time will unravel and all of reality will implode. In a way, Zeedmillenniumon is manipulating Daemon by using this fight as a catalyst towards the completion of his goal!!" Sakuya started to grow worried. "So the four of us would have to find a way to stop two dark gods?"

"Technically there's us, Einstein and the Legion of Goggleheads. But even with that, we're still outclassed!" exclaimed Rika. Kuzuhamon gave a small growl with this revelation. "If we retreat and try to come up with something, those two will most likely blow up all of reality. If we stick around and try to fight, they won't really care and will still blow up all of reality anyway. Some options!! And just how do you figure that all of space and time is going to blow up?"

"I thought it was obvious because these two powerhouses will continuously struggle for dominance in space and time and they will eventually rip it apart. Like two children who want the same toy and they rip it apart." Sakuyamon paused for a moment. "And in some odd way, I'm attuned to the cosmic forces. I can sense how much they are damaging reality." Before any of the others could ask more questions, they all heard Henry shout a "Head's up!!"

Daemon was up in the air directly over the entire group of nine. Zeedmillenniumon focused on creating an energy sphere in front of him before firing it. "Chrono Paradox!!" The energy sphere flew straight towards the group. Daemon tapped into another ability of his and was able to shift to a safer position. But the others were not so fortunate. As the sphere transformed itself into a gigantic blob and enveloped them, Terriermon's last coherent thought was 'This is going to suck!!!'

And that does it for chapter 34. Expect a bigger delay with the next chapter as I think it's going to be a big and heavy one! And now, here's the conclusion of…

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BIKINI SHOT (Part 6)

"Make a left turn here…his door number is 66…" Epsilon looked up from Tommy's directions and headed towards the correct door.

"Hey…was it a good idea just to leave Traveller at the hands of all those pissed off fans?" asked Phoenix.

"They only want to beat him up, not kill him. Otherwise, he can't finish his story." Epsilon paused when he noticed that Takuya's door was slightly ajar. Phoenix noticed this as well.

He carefully opened the door and noticed Takuya's body with blood on his face. 'Don't jump to conclusions…' "Phoenix, can you check out the rest of the apartment? I'll see what happened to Takuya."

As the Authoress of Angst looked around, Epsilon noticed that the boy had two pictures. One was a large picture of the bikini shot in question while the other one was of Duskmon in a cool pose. "What the…?"

"The only thing I found out of the ordinary was Takuya's collection of photographs. It looked like that he was collecting photographs of the Legendary Warriors." The Chinese author looked at where Phoenix was pointing at. 

Other than shots of Kazemon, there were shots of the other legendary warriors in cool battle poses. Takuya had mostly the Human Spirit photos and some Beast Spirit photos. From what Epsilon could determine, Takuya could only get his hands on photos on Legendary Warriors who had been introduced in the show. But he must have worked hard to obtain a clear shot of Duskmon. 'Why would he be interested in collecting photographs of the Legendary Warriors?'

"So it seems that Takuya is our culprit," stated Phoenix.

"That's impossible. Look at the body. From the way the blood is positioned, the only way that he could bleed like that was from a nosebleed. And as you can see, there's some dried up blood right at the nostrils." Phoenix decided to trust Epsilon on this one.

He then held up the larger bikini shot. "And this caused the nosebleed. He was apparently given a large blown up copy of the bikini shot by the real thief just for this reaction. Why…I'm not sure."

"Wow…you know quite a lot about this."

Epsilon shrugged. "Well, when I spend four straight months of summer vacation watching anime, I'm bound to pick up a few things." (AN: Yep…I finished exams in early May!)

"So can the studio still use this?" asked the Authoress of Angst.

"No…they need the master shot in order to run the episode. Any copies won't do." He checked his watch and sighed. "Looks like I failed my mission…"

His cell phone started to ring. Epsilon broke out of his depression to answer it. "Hello?"

It was the studio producer. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!!!!!!"

"Huh?"

"When we checked the episode one last time before making a decision about airing it or making the announcement, the master shot was in there!! We owe you one, big time!! A friend of yours named AnT mentioned how hard you were working on the case as some girl was using some torture device to make him work on his stories. We also got your phone number from a guy and his Digimon who were in a hurry to go to the bathroom. And just before we gave you a call to check up on your progress, the shot was there!!"

(Epsilon O_O;;;) "Uh…right! I couldn't find the thief though…" 

"Don't worry about it. We'll deal with that scoundrel another time. When you get back, we can start discussing how you're to be rewarded!"

"Sure!!" He hung up and passed the news to Phoenix.

"Odd…so either someone stole it back from the thief and returned it or the thief returned it himself." Epsilon had to remember that Phoenix made an assumption that only a guy would be interested in a bikini shot.

"Right…well, I guess the case is closed for now. Thanks for lending a hand, Phoenix!!"

She gave a small smile. "No problem. I'll talk to you later. Ja ne, Epsilon-san!!"

The two of them headed their separate ways once out on the street. As Epsilon made sure that the piece of paper, containing DC's soul as collateral for lending BlackTerriermon the funds to study law (how BlackTerriermon did it will be a story for another time), inside his pocket was not damaged, he heard another honk and some more catcalls. Meanwhile Phoenix was chanting to herself "I'm a pacifist…I'm a pacifist…ah, screw it!!" Moments later, the guys who were hitting on her were running for their lives. (AN: The real Phoenix would probably…NOTE THE KEY WORD: PROBABLY!!!...not resort to violence)

'Well, I guess that wraps up everything. But I can't help feeling that I forgot something…'

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Help!!! Get me out of here!!!" JP was still tied up in the room. Akira and his Digimon had vacated the room quickly to go to the bathroom after eating too much chocolate. Someone came in the room after hearing the boy's screams and noticed the chocolate.

"Please help me!! I'll give you all that chocolate and more if you untie me!!"

"Yummy…" Angel took the rest of the candy and left the room, happily munching away.

JP groaned. "Why does all this bad stuff happen to me?!?!?"

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

'Damn…talk about a good poker face!!' Dragoon sweated nervously as he made a decision. "Check."

SQUEAK. The Death of Rats said check.

It came down to Wyld Stallyns. "Uh…what are we doing again, dudes?"

"Either Bet, Check or Fold. Check means you pass the Bet to Death here," said Dragoon.

"Okay then…Check!!"

IN THAT CASE, I RAISE THE STAKES BY $1000. Death tossed in the appropriate chips.

Dragoon tossed down his cards. "I can't afford that! I have to fold!!" 

YOU CAN ALWAYS WAGER YOUR LIFE. ONE YEAR COSTS ABOUT $100. Death took out two sandglasses. One for Dragoon and one for Wyld Stallyns.

"No thanks."

Wyld Stallyns grinned. "Alright…count me in! I have an absolutely wicked hand!!"

VERY WELL. THAT MEANS I HAVE TO TAKE OFF TEN YEARS OF YOUR LIFE IF I WIN.

"Check this out!!" Wyld Stallyns laid down his cards. Seeing this, Death of Rats tossed down his cards, which consisted of a natural Three of a Kind and no wild cards.

TWO QUEENS, A FIVE AND A SEVEN. THAT MAKES FOR FOUR OF A KIND SINCE FIVES AND SEVENS ARE WILD. NOT TOO BAD. Death laid down his cards which consisted of two Aces, two fives and a seven.

HOWEVER I HAVE FIVE ACES WHICH EASILY DEFEATS YOUR FOUR QUEENS. THEREFORE YOU LOSE TEN YEARS OF YOUR LIFE. AND SINCE THAT WAS ALL THE TIME THAT YOU HAD LEFT, YOU'RE TECHNICALLY DEAD.

"Bummer!! Don't I get to challenge you for my life or something like that?"

I'LL HAVE TO CHECK THE RULES SEEING HOW YOU LOST YOUR LIFE IN A POKER GAME AGAINST ME. Death cleaned up the cards and started shuffling again.

IF YOU WISH, WE CAN CHANGE THE GAME TO RUMMY. OR PERHAPS EUCHRE. 

The others simply shrugged. "Euchre," said Dragoon. Death started to make appropriate deck arrangements.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Mission accomplished." The digital camera had captured Takuya's look just as he saw the bikini shot. As soon as he had fainted, the escape was made cleanly. The master shot had been replaced to save much grief for the producers. 

"This is even better than the look you had in Episode 2, Mr. Kanbara." The image of his face as blood started gushing out his nose was blown straight up on the computer.

There was a tiny giggle. "Looking like this, you look so…adorabile!"

END!!!!

Well that wraps up the Case of the Missing Bikini Shot. I'll eventually start up the DC trial omake in the V-Tamer mini story or something. And I left a major clue to who the thief really is. I'll reveal the significance of the clue at the beginning of the next chapter. If you can figure out the clue, then it'll be totally easy to find out who the thief is. Anyways…that's it for me for now! Be seeing ya next chapter!!


	35. Fourth Arc, Episode V

Author's Notes: Here we go with the next chapter. If you still haven't figured out who was the thief…well, here's the big clue. Adorabile means 'adorable' (no duh!) in Italian (**HINT HINT**). Also, Zero has dragon wings in the mega form that I described in the previous chapter. An image is available at the card picture website which I listed back in chapter 8 in the V-Tamer Booster Pack images. I've done enough talking so let's get down to this!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Bandai, Toei and ABC own the rights and all that stuff. 

Ascension – V 4.5

"Magna Blast!!" "Rapid Fire!!" Both golden armoured Digimon fired their respective attacks at Cherubimon. As they hit their mark, chunks of fur and muscle were ripped off. But that didn't really matter to the mega Digimon as he simply regenerated those lost parts moments after they were blasted. Magnamon and Rapidmon flew back to avoid the other Digimon's reach.

"Alright. As the partner of a human who is probably smarter than mine…" Magnamon mentally added a 'no offence, Davis'. "…I'm hoping that you have been able to cook up some sort of plan to take this guy down by now!" The Armoured Digimon of Fate gave a sigh. "Can't your friends digivolve and help us? What's your recovery rate on that program you briefly mentioned before we armour-digivolved?"

"Izzy never told us!!" "Give a rough estimate!!" Rapidmon fired some more missiles while Magnamon glanced at the other Digimon who have started to regain some strength but not enough to actively fight. He cross-referenced the latest condition of his friends to their condition a few minutes prior to his latest observation. 

"I don't know!! Maybe ten percent a minute or something! I'm no math genius like Izzy or something!! Magna Blast!" It was the same routine as usual. Rip out some muscle and then regenerate. When Cherubimon started inclining his head in an odd position, Rapidmon gasped. "Oh dear…if we don't finish this within a few more minutes, this is going to get really nasty!!"

Magnamon gave a puzzled look while Rapidmon explained. "I remember the times with Willis when Cocomon and myself were baby Digimon. Whenever Cocomon got bored, he would incline his head in that same position and if he didn't get entertained quickly, he would drive me and Willis completely bonkers by shooting bubbles all over the place. And with the amount of firepower at his disposal in this form…" The Armoured Digimon of Miracles placed the pieces of the puzzle together. "This brings us back to the original question. Do you have a plan yet?"

Rapidmon frowned underneath his helmet. "The only thing that I could think of that might possibly work is to go inside the belly of the beast and attack the virus there. Once it's gone, Cocomon will be more than happy to regurgitate us if he can get through in one piece." He noticed the confused look in Magnamon's eyes. "That means he'll throw up and we'll be in the vomit…or the yucky stuff to put it in simple terms." An ill feeling swept over the other armoured Digimon. "Oh, man…let's get this over with before I feel like throwing up!!"

Both Digimon charged forward and fired their attacks straight in Cherubimon's face. As he opened his mouth in pain, Magnamon and Rapidmon flew in. "Good grief!! Haven't you heard of mouthwash?!?" That was Magnamon's last line before Cherubimon closed his mouth again. "What just happened?!?" screamed a tiny Davis Motomiya after he saw his cool golden Digimon fly right into the mouth of their enemy. 

Wormmon stiffened as he saw his friends get swallowed. "I have to digivolve and get them out of there!!" Now that the restoration program had settled in, the others had access to normal digivolution again. All they needed now was the energy to pull it off and considering how much punishment Cherubimon had dished out, they needed time to recover. Their strength was slowly returning but they needed to be at full power now.

They all saw Cherubimon clutch his head and roar in agony. The black fur on his body started changing colour to pink. The ugly face was replaced with a face that was actually pleasant to look at. When Willis blinked again, he gasped as he saw a pink version of his partner rather than the dark black version. "Cocomon?" His Digimon seemed to be crying a bit. "Goodbye, Willis. I'll miss you…" His body started turning into dust and left a very startled Veemon and Terriermon on the ground.

"Cocomon!!!!" This time, he shouted with his older voice. Apparently, the others had turned back to normal and the sky was changing back to its original colour. As Veemon and Terriermon made their way back, Kari tried to cheer Willis up. "Don't worry. Your partner can be reborn in Primary Village and before you know it, he'll be back!"

The boy picked up Terriermon before speaking. "I don't think so. The way he said goodbye…he knew he wasn't going to come back. It was final." He started walking away from the group, not noticing Suzie's depressed look as she saw Terriermon going away from her. "Because of this rampage, I haven't done much to disprove the general American theory that Digimon are dangerous and must be separated from mankind. This will make things harder for any Digidestined in America. This whole thing was my fault and I'm going to set things straight."

"Wait!! You're going to take all the blame for something that was completely out of your control?!? That's not fair!!" shouted Cody. Willis stopped for a moment. "Life rarely is fair and we can't expect a happy ending for every situation. That's just not how reality works. Reality is shaped by the events that happen and the choices we make. I made a few bad decisions four years ago. I've dug my grave…and now I've got to lie in it."

He started running again. Yolei was about to chase him and slap some sense into his head when TK grabbed her arm. "Let me go! I've got to get him to realize that this whole guilt game is completely rubbish!!" TK waited until she calmed down. "I want to help him as well but we've got other priorities at the moment. Like getting Suzie back to Henry and helping the others get back to normal. We need to get Imperialdramon to take us to a computer so we can get back in the digital world."

"We'll have to wait a few more minutes before both Veemon and Wormmon are ready to go," reported Ken. As Kari started making sure that Suzie was fine, she gave one last look at the departing figure, which was getting smaller as he put more distance between them. 'I just hope he doesn't do anything rash.' 

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The first thing that Henry Wong saw when he woke up was…nothing. His surroundings were completely black. He gave a small startled gasp. "What…?" He noticed that he could still see his body…well, the body of Megagargomon at least. "Terriermon…are you there?" asked the tamer in an uncertain voice. There was no answer from the usually talkative rabbit Digimon. 

'So this is the effect of Chrono Paradox? Nothing spectacular so far.' He floated around, trying to figure out just what exactly was going on and how he could get back to his friends. This place, wherever it is, disturbed him somehow. He couldn't place a finger on it and wasn't sure what was bothering him until the major clue dropped right in front of him. "Fancy meeting you again."

Henry froze when he heard his own voice. 'Now I know that I'm going crazy…maybe this is how Zeedmillenniumon's attack works. By mental torture and perhaps some sort of physical assault while I'm stuck in here.' He started focusing on how to break himself out of his prison when he heard the voice talk to him again. "Hey!! I'm talking to you here! Maybe you'll want to talk when I come out." A giant figure stepped out of the shadows.

"You…" The figure was just as big as Henry and looked exactly the same except that his face was brown, he had black armour instead of green and the missile faces were red instead of yellow. Henry vaguely remembered a name. "Umegagargomon…" The other Digimon gave an odd little bow. "That's right! Give this fellow a prize!!"

"So this is how Chrono Paradox works? By having me face my greatest fear or something?" His dark counterpart said nothing. Henry prepared to go into battle. "If this is the only way for me to get out, then so be it! Mega Barrage!!" At the same time, the other Digimon opened up several cannons of his own to fire a barrage of missiles to counter the attack. Each missile from Megagargomon was nullified by Umegagargomon's own missiles. "Henry, Henry, Henry…I thought Sensei taught you better than that. Remember the last time you rushed into a fight entirely on impulse? You know…the scuffle with the neighbourhood kid, Yukio?"

(flashback)

A younger Henry Wong had just completed another martial arts lesson and was walking back home. He felt on top of the world, to put it mildly. His training was a way to finally distinguish himself as someone else and not another child of the Wong family. "Hey!! What are you doing?!?" It was the voice of another young child. Henry reasoned that the child was not too far away from him and was obviously in trouble.

"Collecting my ante! What does it look like, you loser?" From the sound of that voice, it seemed like Yukio was causing trouble again. Since he moved into the neighbourhood, he's been bothering kids one way or the other and has been a general pain for everyone. "Yeah but you totally cheated! That move you made a while ago…I saw a ruling on the internet saying that play was illegal!"

Yukio leaned forward to snatch up the foil Omnimon card as the ante. "Hey…you were the one who wanted to challenge me so you could try and win my promo Metalgreymon that I got when I bought the Digimon game and you agreed to play the card game on my terms. I don't really care about official rulings. That's for tournament level play anyway." "And I suppose that you would only use official rulings when the opponent tries to make the same type of move you did?"

He looked up to see another boy with a look of disapproval. "What are you doing defending this kid, Henry? It was his own fault that he got himself into this mess!" Yukio took one end of the Omnimon card and noticed that his beaten opponent had grabbed the other end. "You cheater!! Let go of my card!!" There was a tug of war between the two children. Henry realized that the card could rip and went to stop Yukio but it was too late.

While the younger boy started crying, Henry gave a fierce glare at Yukio. "Look what you did!! Apologize and buy this kid another copy of the card that you ripped up!!" Yukio got up and dusted himself off. "No way! That card costs quite a bit of money, you know! It was mine anyway since I won it so that other kid should be buying me a new card! But since I'm such a nice guy, I'll let him off this time."

From Henry's point of view, this affair had not been resolved fairly. He went up to Yukio and pulled him back roughly. "I told you to apologize and buy another card!!" The other boy just snarled. "Make me!!!" He threw a punch at Henry's head but thanks to his martial arts reflexes, he ducked. He then made three counterattacks: a punch to the stomach and two kicks to the chest.

When the adrenaline died down from his system, a wave of guilt washed over Henry. He had been taught that the purpose of learning how to fight was to avoid fighting. The boy walked over to Yukio, who was in a lot of pain. "Hey!! Are you alright?" Yukio's eyes widened and he tried moving away from Henry. "Don't hurt me!! I'll do anything but please don't hurt me!!"

The next words flew out of Henry's mouth before he had a chance to think about them. "I want you to buy another foil Omnimon card and give it to that kid as an apology for cheating. Also, I want you to stop being such a troublemaker! I think all that will resolve this incident and we won't have to mention it again to anyone." Yukio nodded, with fear reflecting in his eyes. "S-sure! Whatever you say!"

(end flashback)

"Come to think of it…the last time you rushed into a fight, you actually did some good. Not only did you make things fair by getting Yukio to buy another card but you changed a neighbourhood troublemaker into a nice, normal kid." Umegagargomon chuckled while Henry clenched his fists. "I used my skills against him and forced him to change. Now…who knows how severe the side effects may be. If people don't change to their own will and change to the will of others, it could be disastrous!" His dark counterpart just rolled his eyes in an irritated manner.

"And that was when you started trying to focus on control, right? You wanted to fight me because I represented what it would be like if you broke loose and acted entirely on impulse." Megagargomon closed his eyes for a brief moment in order to find a good response. "That's not true. I know that every one of us has a dark side and that it gets us through life in some manner. I've accepted that fact."

"You say you accept that fact. You say that you're capable of integrating me into yourself. Then why do you constantly come back to this precise moment where you fight with me?!?" Umegagargomon lowered his voice again. "How many times have we had this little fight? I think I lost count at twenty. We could have done a lot of good around our neighbourhood dealing with those other troublemakers back then." He paused as he noticed the other one tremble slightly. "I think I've struck a nerve. So tell me…why do you come back to this moment?"

Henry couldn't form the words. Umegagargomon gave a small frown. "Hey, you're the one who has to admit it to yourself, you know. You're the only one who knows the answer." The other Digimon finally came up with an adequate answer. "I always come back here because I have to keep you at bay and because I fear what may happen if I let go again."

His counterpart said nothing while Henry tried to keep finding reasons why he came to this moment. "Am I here because of that fear of letting you out? Or maybe it's because…" He noticed a sinister look in Umegagargomon's eyes. "You're supposed to be the brains of the group. So why can't you see this already? You come back here to this moment to hide from your fear. You've done so ever since your encounter with Yukio."

He snorted once. "Face it…here, you can battle me to your heart's content and come out with a satisfied feeling that you've overcome the urges but all you have in the end is a false feeling of security." As Umegagargomon said the last four words of his statement, he took several steps forward until he was right in Megagargomon's face. Then a dark grin appeared on Umegagargomon's face. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

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When Rika opened her eyes, she noticed that her body was slightly swinging. 'A…playground?' There was some soft humming from her right. She turned her head just a bit to see a smaller version of herself humming a small song underneath her breath. Before she could think of what was going on, she heard someone's footsteps. 'Dad…' There he was, watching over his child. He had a few bags with him. 

The smaller child looked at her father with an adorable look that would have given the Digimon Queen persona mental scars for life. "Where are you going, daddy?" chirped the girl. Rika noticed her father's face. There were a lot of emotions there such as love and sadness. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"I have to go away for a while, sweetheart. There are some things that I need to do…" The other man looked like that he was fighting back tears. Her chibi self had a somewhat sad look. "Why?" The man knelt down until he was face to face with his daughter. "I have to go on this trip to become a better man to myself and to the ones I love."

The sad look changed to a puzzled one. "I don't get it. I love you and mommy loves you too. And so does mommy's mommy. You're the bestest daddy in the world!" At that moment, Rika had to quash the odd feeling rising up inside her stomach. If Terriermon had known about how cute she was as a little girl with that accent, she would never live it down. "I'm glad someone thinks of me that way. Don't worry…I'll come back soon. I promise." She gasped once as she remembered those words.

"What's a promise?" asked Chibi Rika. "I'll tell you what a promise is." Rika turned around to where the voice had originated from. It was the Digimon Queen persona along with Princess Sakuya. "A promise is a whole bunch of words that makes you believe in an outcome that won't really happen in reality!"

"Odd…you are still able to function normally regardless of having this tender moment in your presence?" asked Sakuya in a curious tone. The Digimon Queen spat out a quick reply before awaiting the response of her younger counterpart. "A tamer must be able to withstand any environment and any condition…regardless of how repulsive it may be."

A scowl grew on her face as the father and daughter duo ignored the other three presences. "Well…when a person makes a promise, they give a vow…or their word that they will do something or be somewhere no matter what. So when I say I promise that I'll come back as soon as I can, it means that I will come back to you no matter what!" Chibi Rika blinked once before giving another cute smile which gave the Digimon Queen even more mental scars. "OK, daddy! Come back soon!"

"I remember this moment…" Sakuya had to blink back a few tears as the man leaned in to whisper something to the child's ear. "…he told me that he was very proud of me and that he would always love me." As soon as he looked her in the face one last time, Chibi Rika wrapped her arms around his neck. While this was going on, the Digimon Queen was clenching her fists tightly.

There was silence as the man picked up his bags and started walking away. At the same time, Chibi Rika was singing a little song to herself about the promise that was made and how the two were going to meet again. "Stop it…" The Digimon Queen had placed her fingers in her ears, not wanting to hear the song. By this time, Rika started swinging and quietly mumbling to herself. "I want to sing…"

"Damn it!!! Stop singing already!!!" screamed the Digimon Queen. The singing continued as Chibi Rika stopped swinging and got up. What surprised the others was the fact that another Chibi Rika was swinging in the same place. And it was she who continued to sing. "Sorry but you can't play with us. All you can do is watch," stated the Chibi Rika who got off the swing.

Sakuya blinked once. "Perhaps she means that we are only observers in the memory, not participants. Tell me…are you the one who had the Crimson Sakuyamon body?" Chibi Rika gave another adorable smile. "I saw a light thingy inside with me. It was pretty scared…well, not scared but something like that! After I said hello, the light went everywhere and talked from everywhere! It told me that it would need me to do things in case this weird thing happened where we would see things we already saw before! Like now!"

Rika made a guess that the Crimson Sakuyamon body had held the Chibi Rika essence and that the light could have been Renamon. But then again, she heard the occupant of the body say that it was not Renamon but something else. She blinked once as she remembered her younger self mentioning knowing what to do in this type of situation. "What were the instructions left by the…light?"

Chibi Rika shrugged. "Something about why you chose to be here and what does this mean to you and stuff! But enough of that! Do you want to play?" As she started bothering the Digimon Queen, much to that persona's dismay and much to Sakuya's amusement, Rika considered the question. 'This memory was my last good one before the Digimon Queen was born. And that attitude helped me in a way…' She silently growled in frustration with her inability to determine whether her father's departure was a good or bad thing compared to the person she is today.

Sakuya started to speak. "You cherish this memory yet you abhor it. You abhor it because of the constant reminder of how this triggered the harsh lesson of an empty promise and you cherish it because this was your last memory of your father." Rika looked up to see the other three presences now focusing solely on her. The singing had stopped as the memory was replaced by another one. The one where she had written the Digimon Queen's definition of a promise. "A promise is nothing but a few empty words whose purpose is to fool a person…"

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The sensations that worked as stimuli to wake Takato Matsuki came from the place that he was currently in. 'I'm human again…where's Guilmon?!?' The boy quickly got up and then noticed his surroundings. All around him, a city lay in ruins with a crimson sky up above. "What happened here?!?" Wasting no time, he decided to search for his partner as well as the rest of his friends before trying to figure out what happened.

His mind was swirling with questions about what had happened and the safety of his friends. 'Please…I don't ask for much, Amaterasu but please let them be safe!!' The boy navigated through the city to find some trace of his friends but he had no luck. He paused for a moment. 'Wait a second…what if this is one of those weird realities that's all in my head?' He tried to shake that thought out of his head as this was the last thing that he needed to worry about.

Takato froze when he started hearing footsteps approaching him. It sounded like that it was coming from all directions but that changed when Shadowgallantmon came into view. "Hello mother dear," said the dark knight in an eerie tone (AN: Think Bart Simpson's tone from the Teacher Strike episode). Takato was going to ask what he meant by that when he remembered the conversation he had with Renamon a long time ago about making a better mother than a tamer.

"Well…at least I know that I'm dreaming. Or something like that. Alright…time to wake up!!" He closed his eyes and started concentrating, not caring about the dark knight Digimon standing only a few feet away from him. "Are you sure you're dreaming?" Takato gasped in surprise as he felt the lance of the dark knight plunge into his chest for a brief moment.

"Hmmmmm…no blood. I guess you are dreaming then." Shadowgallantmon pulled out the lance again just as quickly as he thrust it in. The boy gave a small sigh of relief before speaking. "I don't have time for this. I have to wake up, get back with my friends and figure out a way to stop Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon. Besides, haven't I already dealt with you and won?"

"Oh, yes. You did find a way to calm your troubled soul about my existence…nice job by the way. But you're here for a different reason. And speaking of this reason…he'll be arriving soon." As soon as the dark knight finished his sentence, Gallantmon landed right beside him as a result of a long jump.

"Who are you talking about? Why are you all gathered like this?" He received no answers from the two Digimon. They all seemed to be waiting for something. The question was…what were they waiting for? "That reminds me. I should change into something more appropriate." Shadowgallantmon concentrated as his body shifted into his Chaos Mode. Gallantmon did the same as he shifted into Crimson Mode.

Takato was becoming even more frustrated. GCM noticed this and addressed the child. "He has been waiting to meet you for a long time. Ever since you were born…" A bright explosion occurred in front of the group. Takato was nearly thrown back but Gallantmon Chaos Mode made sure he didn't go anywhere. "Who is he?"

"This is the part of yourself that you have to come to terms with before returning to reality. You may think it's a piece of cake but it's far more complex than you will ever imagine," stated the crimson knight. Takato got up slowly before shielding his eyes from the light. "I figure it won't be a piece of cake but since confronting with this part of me is the only way back, then I'm going in!"

There was a chuckle from Gallantmon Chaos Mode. "Cocky, aren't you? Well, I might as well give you a pointer. As you know, dragon breath, otherwise known as the drooling garbage disposal unit or Megidramon, isn't here with us now. He's up there with the light. He was originally created by your rage, which triggers the true power of the Hazard. As such, he would have been the voice of that rage but since his speech is limited to say the least, he has now become the door to which you must open to deal with the rage that has been built throughout your life here in the reality which is your mind."

"Right…" Takato wasn't sure what his dark counterpart had said so he trudged on anyway. As the boy approached the light, bits and pieces of speech came from the red light with quick images of where the rage was directed at. He was slightly horrified at some of the people in which some of his rage had been directed at. He did notice that there was rage directed against Shadowgallantmon, Doumon and Beelzemon but he was more concerned with what he had unconsciously hid from himself.

There was some directed against his mother…her strictness had sometimes frustrated the boy to no end. There was some directed against Rika, as the tamer who had considered Digimon only as stepping stones to becoming the best of the best. There was even some directed against Tai for not going after Sora which resulted in the lousy ending of the second series.

The feelings were intensifying around him and he felt his resolve wavering due to the amount of rage he kept having to deal with. Takato continued on though, using every ounce of strength and willpower he had to keep everything else at bay until he had completed his task. He could make out the dragon's silhouette as he got closer. At the same time, there was an unpleasant feeling emanating from the light. What felt even more odd was that this feeling was almost welcoming him.

"Megidramon…" The dragon Digimon slightly bowed his head to look at the child below him. Takato could barely make out the next few words. "Show me…" Megidramon concentrated as all the feelings burst out of him and showed themselves in their raw and exposed forms to the young boy. Cracks appeared on the ground and the earth split as Takato gave a scream of pure terror.

As both knights leapt in the air to avoid the cracks, Gallantmon Chaos Mode proposed a question to the other. "Can you feel your faith weakening yet? It seems that Amaterasu has forsaken us. The only true power we can put faith in is the Digital Hazard." His tone then changed to a gleeful one. "And goggles down there thought that he had a chance to deal with the feelings that the Hazard is fuelled by!" The reality around them started shifting rapidly and GCM could not come up with a quick enough retort as the two personas ceased being individual entities.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully, I can resolve things smoothly in the next chapter as well as I messed things up in the first place here. Since I'm going to be working, that means my writing rate may either speed up (since I have a tendency to write faster when I have a busy schedule. Remember when I was writing final exams?) or slow down further. It took me a while to properly think up these mind games for the tamers so that kind of contributed to the delay. That's all I can think of saying at the moment so see you on the other side.


	36. Fourth Arc, Episode VI

Author's Notes: One thing to say…GOMEN!!! I had to make sure that the material was presented in a smooth manner and it took me a lot of time to come up with some good dialogue for some of the scenes. Plus I was busy with a book report that I had to do for my mother. I still don't understand why she would want me to do something like that. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Alright?!?

Ascension – V 4.6

'Now let's see here…where do I find the flour again?' Takehiro Matsuki sighed to himself as he continued shopping for the items needed to bake various items in his bakery. Normally his wife would do the shopping but she has been very unnerved about Takato's disappearance. She had often went into his room and stared outside his window for hours at a time. Takehiro was quite worried but he tried not to let it bother him too much. 

The government agents that had spoken to him had reassured the couple that they would do everything in their power to get Takato back, safe and sound and free of the influence that the Digimon may have had on him. Still, he would prefer to find his son first before the agents found him. At least this way, he could have a chance to try and reason with Takato and convince him to stop all this madness.

When he finally found the flour, he took a small portion. About half of what his wife usually gets for the store. Because of the abnormalities that have been plaguing West Shinjuku including not just the Digimon but other strangers as well, business hasn't been as strong. The global economy has been in a bit of a slump with people too afraid to go out to live their normal lives. The governments are at a loss of how to handle this because they don't exactly have the resources to combat these anomalies that pop out in various regions of their country so often.

'That takes care of the flour. Now to…' His cart shook as it bumped into someone else's. Some of the items in the cart had fallen out since it was somewhat packed to the top due to the fact that the bakery needs several supplies. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry!" He noticed another woman with blonde hair and violet eyes. She moved to help him pick up some stuff. 

"Oh, don't worry too much about it, madam!" In no time, all the stuff had been placed back in Takehiro's cart. He then paused for a moment. "Wait…aren't you the woman in the photos that were advertising those dresses that my wife obsesses over? You know, the Katsumoto line?" The other woman them remembered what photos he was talking about. "Yes, I was the model in that shoot. My name is Rumiko."

"I'm Takehiro and I'm honoured to meet you. Wow…I got to meet a real model! How come you're doing your own shopping instead of having some butler do it for you?" She gave a light hearted laugh. "A butler is quite expensive and I'm not the type of big shot model who makes a fortune for each shoot. Not yet anyways. My mother usually does the shopping for the house but with what's been happening, it would be safer if she stayed home and I went out. And hopefully this way, I can find my daughter and find out what she has been up to lately."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?" The woman was silent until Takehiro apologized. "I'm sorry for bringing this up." She gave a small sigh. "I honestly have no clue what's going on. As soon as I heard what was going on back in Japan, I came home as soon as I could. I was just in time to see several men in suits chasing after a yellow fox. And that fox had my daughter on its back! Those men said that they were from the government and that my daughter is in some sort of trouble!!"

"You've received a visit too?" Rumiko gave the man a strange look. He quickly went on to explain how agents had dropped by his bakery, looking for his son. Takato had just come back earlier and went straight up to his room, promising to have a chat with his parents later. A few hours later, they had received visitors who were interested in conducting an interview with the boy. When they went upstairs to fetch him, he was gone. Nothing was taken except his most valuable Digimon cards and his deck.

"Wait…your son took his Digimon cards?" This bothered Rumiko even more. It didn't make sense that someone would take their Digimon cards with them. Her thoughts were interrupted when the market started to shake. Other shoppers around them started panicking and tried to flee the store with what they have, not caring for the fact that they would be shoplifting if they got out successfully.

Outside, people were freaking out with the on and off images of the battle between Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon. And if that wasn't enough, the amount of unwanted visitors to their town…correction, the amount of unwanted visitors to their world had just tripled in number. With only a handful of Digimon tamers in each continent, the world would be overrun in a matter of days, if not weeks.

Yamaki knew this fact all too well as he heard reports from other government agencies about these strange creatures popping up all over the place. He already sent copies of the schematics for his original Juggernaut program to every government being attacked back in May (AN: May was the starting point of Ascension if you recall in chapter 1). Once they get their programs up and running, all Juggernaut programs can link together and eradicate every single invader and Digimon on the planet. And since he was the original creator, Yamaki would be the one maintaining most of the control over the worldwide Juggernaut program. In only a few more hours the worldwide program would be ready to cleanse the planet…

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"Paildramon mega-digivolve to…Imperialdramon!!!" After making the transformation to the great dragon, he got everyone in his passenger compartment on his back. Yolei then scratched her head. "So where do we go from here?" Imperialdramon answered that question a moment later. "I would have to say that I should start by heading towards the part of the sky which looks dark and ominous. Is that the right word? Ominous?"

"Hey! What's happening, guys?" They all turned in the direction of the new voice and saw an unknown Digimon flying towards them. He stopped right beside Imperialdramon. "I'm glad everyone's alright. Especially you, squirt." There was a pause as Kari gave a frustrated shout much to the amusement of everyone else. "Taichi! Man, you look so totally awesome!!" exclaimed Davis.

"Did you merge with your Digimon just like the other tamers?" asked TK. The other Digimon gently opened his right hand, revealing a quiet Neo Saiba. "Yeah…I was able to kill Neo's Digimon and he's been like this ever since. Do you mind looking after him for a bit? I don't think he'll be too much trouble for you." The boy was taken from Zero's palm and placed in the passenger compartment of Imperialdramon.

"Now that Neo is taken care of, we can focus on helping our other friends! Come on!" With that said, Zero blasted off into the direction with the darkened sky. "You heard the guy!! Up, up and away!!" shouted Davis. Almost everyone else shared the same thought. 'The goggle boys are not to get together at all.' (AN: Can you imagine what would happen if Tai, Taichi, Takato and Davis were all gathered at the same time?)

When they caught up with Zero, he was staring at the white, fluctuating bubble on the ground. There was silence until Cody voiced the question that everybody was thinking. "What is that?" Before anyone could contemplate it further, a bolt of lightning nearly hit Imperialdramon. They looked up to find the source and Ken gave a horrified gasp. Every fibre in his body was frozen in fear. "Not again…Millenniumon…"

"Whoa…that big crystal guy looks freaky! And so does that other tiny red and black figure! It's time the 100% Combination is introduced to those freaks!!" Before Zero could blast off, Imperialdramon used one of his claws to grab the holy knight. Taichi was about to ask what the deal was when he stopped as he saw the grave look on everyone's face except for Neo who still remained comatose. "It took every single bit of energy from us and the tamers to take down Millenniumon in his lesser forms. I don't even know if we stand a chance against this evolution," whispered Kari.

"Hikari…" He was speechless as the battle raged on above with neither contestant noticing the newcomers. Both were focused on winning the fight. Daemon charged his body with a powerful aura before flying towards Zeedmillenniumon in a drilling motion (AN: Similar to Bison's Mega Psycho Crusher super in Capcom VS SNK 2). He was able to shatter a part of the god Digimon's crystal but it was repaired within moments. 

Zeedmillenniumon gave a sick grin with the blue face. "Having your power unconfined by the amount of data possessed by the body is so beneficial! Hm?" Daemon just started laughing. "I figured that out a long time ago. I've worked on a plan during my time of recovery to overcome the fact that the amount of power that one can possess depended on the amount of data in one's body. Guess what I found within the Dark Spore…"

The red face gave a furious hiss. "Your body is linked with every nightmare belonging to human and Digimon alike through the Dark Ocean. I see you finished the groundwork that I laid out for my side project." Daemon said nothing and focused on creating seven balls of energy. "It's not such a good idea to leave things undone once you've began! Firestorm!!"

The group winced as the digital world felt the impact of the attack. "If this keeps up, the entire digital world will be done for!!" shouted Armadillomon. Hawkmon frowned. "Forget the digital world! I'll bet that there will be catastrophic side effects felt by both worlds in all of the realms!!" 

"I'm assuming that counts as a catastrophic side effect?" Everyone looked to where Patamon was pointing at. The digital world was fluctuating in different areas with many new and different Digimon coming out. And a majority of those Digimon seemed to be content in blasting random things. "Yes, that would count as a catastrophic side effect. Looks like we'll have to welcome them," muttered Gatomon.

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Henry blinked once as he tried to make sense of what his other half had told him. "Come to think of it, it's time that these disguises were shed." With that, the large form of Megagargomon vanished and left only the boy wearing his usual outfit. He looked over to find his counterpart looking exactly like him in terms of appearance with the same outfit and face. The only reason he looked like him is that Henry never really gave that dark side a specific appearance. "So no matter what I do, I can't escape the fight against you. I always have to win against you in order to stay in control." 

The other Henry shrugged. "Yeah, that about sums it up well. You don't trust yourself…you never trusted yourself completely. Not since that scuffle with Yukio. And especially not since your outburst that turned Takato and Rika against each other. Thus…this scenario was created so that it can be replayed over and over so you can feel secure. But even now, you feel vulnerable because you just learned the truth behind all this. Some scenario you created…" He chuckled once. 

"Maybe I should have found another way to assert myself rather than take martial arts. Then I wouldn't be facing myself like this. I wonder if I ever received any words of wisdom from Sensei about facing this type of problem…' He thought back to some of the things that his Sensei has told him over the years. Things about life, things about the human soul and things about needs. He paused when he found a particular conversation that had occurred about a year ago prior to his becoming a Digimon tamer. 

A younger Henry Wong was in the dojo, drinking some tea after a hard workout with his teacher. "I find it strange that people can't stop doing things even though they're bad. I mean…there are those who smoke and eat too much and they know that it's not good for them but they keep doing it anyway." 

The other man placed his cup down. "It seems strange but it's understandable. When one acquires a taste for something new such as cigarettes, fast food or other things, it becomes hard to give up because a fear is developed about giving up those things. They fear what it would be like without that particular commodity that they have acquired a taste for and so they subconsciously fight against giving something up."

'Is that it? Did I like the feeling of satisfaction when fighting my dark side so much that I'm afraid of giving up that fight and the feeling that comes with it?' As he kept his current train of thought focused on that concept, he felt his body become lighter. "I've got to give up the fight…" His counterpart heard his statement and gave a cynical laugh. "You can try all you want but your subconscious will always find its way back here."

"I believe that I have control without resorting to the fight. I trust myself now not to make any more foolish mistakes in a fight." Henry blinked once and saw his counterpart vanish without a trace while the entire world exploded into white. "Hey, Henry! What's happening, buddy?" asked Terriermon in a chirpy tone. 

The tamer picked up his partner and placed him on his shoulders. "Where have you been? I didn't feel you around for a while." The dog bunny scratched his head for a moment. "Uh…now that you bring that subject up, I had no idea where I was between the time that Zeed whacked us with Chrono Paradox and now."

He noticed that there was nothing around him for miles. His friends were missing and as far as he knew, Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon could have already finished the fight with the victor going on to do who knows what to the other realms. "So where do we go from here?" "I don't suppose momentai is a good answer for that question?"

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As soon as Sakuya finished her statement about the particular memory, the Digimon Queen gave a small snort. "You have a few options with memories. You can either keep it around in your head or you can just toss it like yesterday's trash but after so many years, you still can't make up your mind. It kind of makes me sick with disgust when people can't make up their minds when they have the choices clearly cut out for them. Talk about weakness." 

Sakuya frowned. "Even when the choices are clear cut, each choice has their own repercussions and one must be wary of those before making a choice. Besides, who made you the authority on determining strength and weakness?" As the two bickered, Rika noticed her smaller self totally oblivious to everything and smiling happily. 

'When was the last time I was able to smile like that? Curious…even with all the things that had happened, Takato always found a way to smile.' She closed her eyes. 'A person able to smile even when they have extremely heavy burdens…I wish I had that strength.' "Why are you sad?" Rika noticed her smaller self standing a few metres in front of her. 

"I don't really know. All this talk about whether the memory is good or bad is just getting to me I suppose." She paused, wondering why she was telling the child all of this. As far as she was concerned, her explanation would probably just go over her head. "Maybe you should stop thinking about the memory too much or something. Let it go." 

Rika froze as she saw everything start to come together and make some sense. "It doesn't matter whether I cherished the memory or abhorred it. In any case, I've been oppressed by that memory in some fashion. That was what prevented me from truly smiling and living my life. Wait…was that what prevented me from giving myself totally to Takato?" By that time, the personas had stopped arguing.

Sakuya then spoke. "That has nothing to do with the memory. Being in love is a very difficult time in a woman's life. She has to trust someone else with her darkest secrets and her deepest fears. Everything that she is will become visible to the one she loves. And that can be terrifying." Rika blinked as the three personas slowly became transparent.

"But do not worry. We'll be here with you when the time comes to make a choice." Sakuya gave one last smile. Chibi Rika still had the adorable look and the Digimon Queen had a look of indifference. It didn't matter since she was going to be drawn as a source of confidence from Rika, whether she liked it or not. "And I'll be saying 'I told you so' if you make the wrong one. Be seeing you." With that, the trio vanished and the world shimmered into white.

"Rika! Thank goodness!!" She turned around to see her partner, Renamon approaching her. The female tamer gave her partner a quick embrace. "It's good to see you again. What happened to you?" The fox Digimon explained that she had briefly overheard a conversation between two voices. A child and something that can only be described as divine and beautiful. Then the next thing she knew, she had rematerialized in this…realm. 

"Alright!! At least we found some of our friends!" The two noticed Henry running towards them, with Terriermon trying to hold on. After the group exchanged quick greetings, the Chinese tamer spoke again. "We're still missing Takato and Guilmon. Any ideas where we should look? I don't know if Terriermon can make out a scent in this place." The dog bunny grimaced. "That's probably a good thing in some ways. I have first hand experience at how smelly Guilmon can be!!"

He was about to continue complaining about Guilmon's odour problem when his ears twitched briefly. "You hear something?" asked Rika. Although Terriermon had the golden opportunity to make a sarcastic reply, he instead focused on the small scratching sounds. It was a miracle that he could hear them at all. "Over there!!" exclaimed the vaccine Digimon as he pointed a paw into a direction.

The group kept running until they saw a blue shape. Upon closer inspection, it was the final member of the group, Takato Matsuki. From the looks of things, he was working on something. Rika cautiously approached the boy. "What are you doing?" On the desk was a piece of paper and various art tools such as pencils, pens, a few crayons and two erasers. One was pure red while the other one was white.

There was a drawing on the paper which had all of the tamers and the other Digidestined together, celebrating life or something like that. But just as he was about to start putting on some finishing touches, the red eraser came to life and violently erased the picture he was drawing, replacing it with destroyed buildings and the sensation of death everywhere. He tore the paper apart and crumpled it, adding to the growing pile behind his desk.

The boy sighed. "Every time I try to draw a picture of a beautiful future, Chaos erases it and it's replaced with that horror you just saw. It looks like no matter what I do, Chaos dominates me and I unleash its fury upon everyone else." She noticed the look on his face and recalled that she had a similar one not too long ago. 

"You're not being oppressed by a memory, are you? You're being oppressed by Chaos. What happened?" Takato started tapping his pencil on the paper. "I asked Megidramon to show me everything and I couldn't handle it. Now that Chaos destroyed my vision of the future, I have to come up with a new one right here. The problem is that Chaos always destroys those visions too. My own eraser hasn't had much effect erasing what Chaos creates."

'Takato asked to see Chaos in all of its glory and now, it's taken a hold of him. It's occupying his every thought and unless I do something, it'll continue to oppress him.' He sighed again and started sketching something out. "I honestly don't know if I should bother continuing if Chaos always erases everything." Rika gave a frown. "Just draw."

As he continued to sketch, Terriermon blinked once. "Hey…how can he be this good of an artist at this age? Shouldn't he be making comic books or something?" Henry thought for a moment before coming up with an answer. "I think the drawings only look this way because his mind is picturing everything for him."

The drawing was of a church and there were people around applauding who was getting married. He started to draw the lucky couple and this triggered the red eraser to start moving. Rika noticed this and started to talk. "Takato…even though you may carry this destructive and terrifying power within you, I trust you with my life. So does Henry and the Digidestined. You don't have to fear yourself. Let it go."

The red eraser slowed down and then stopped just before it could touch the paper. Takato continued sketching while the colour started coming automatically. There was a faint blush on Rika's cheeks when she saw the drawing of the groom who looked strangely like an adult Takato Matsuki. 'Is that what goggle head may look like?' He paused for a moment. "Hey. If you don't want to be with me…who's going to be the woman in this picture?" He pointed to the blank spot beside the groom.

She gave him a soft look. "You can draw me in as that woman." He looked at her in surprise. "I have some things to face on my own before I can be with you. But at the moment, I feel that I want to be that woman in the picture by your side." Takato smiled and was about to continue when he paused again. "Um…I wonder if there's a special bride tuxedo or something. I know how you don't like wearing dresses…"

Rika rolled her eyes and lightly smacked the boy. "It's a special occasion, goggle head! I won't mind wearing a dress for a while on that day!! This is a wedding we're talking about here!!" He mumbled an apology before finishing the drawing, with a picture of Rika in a stunning bride's dress. "Seems a bit too big. The last thing she wants is to trip and make an ass of herself…HURK!!!" Terriermon soon found himself being strangled by the female tamer.

The drawing table disappeared and Takato fell on the 'ground' with his rear. "Takatomon!!!" At the same time, the red dinosaur came out of nowhere and tackled his tamer affectionately. He had been able to come back with the merging of his viral instincts from Megidramon and his childlike innocence from Gallantmon. "Good…you all made it."

The entire group looked up to see the Crimson Sakuyamon descending from the top. "If you had taken any longer, then the psyches may have broken out of my containment field." Noticing the blank look on all of their faces, she went on to explain. "Chrono Paradox sends the victim into the mind itself. Their darkest and most terrifying thoughts, memories, fears and nightmares are brought up and shown to the victim. As the unfortunate victim tries to go through the mental obstacle, the psyches from the attack itself go through the body and essentially eradicate it, leaving the victim in limbo and trapped in an eternal nightmare. When I contained the psyches, I gave you a chance to escape your personal nightmares…which you did."

"Thanks for giving us a chance…whoever you are," stated Henry in a polite tone. The other figure nodded curtly. "Now it's time to make a choice. Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon are out there on a rampage which could threaten to unravel reality itself. They have to be stopped. Therefore, the power that resides within Takato…Chaos, can be unleashed to collapse the current quantum plane, taking Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon with it. Then she can use my power to rebuild the plane from scratch."

"Time out for a second there. You're saying that Rika can use your power? From what I remember, Gallantmon Chaos Mode downloaded Grani into Guilmon's code so that means your evolution can't be reached by her," said Terriermon. She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I finally know what I am. I'm a physical incarnation of the other power that had collided with Chaos."

Takato gasped. "So Rika's the other one we've been searching for…" While the tamers got used to this revelation, Sakuyamon continued to speak. "The other choice is to bind yourselves with your Digimon. It won't be like bio-merging. This will be completely different. You will have great power at your disposal but it may not be enough to save everything."

The goggle boy spoke again. "I have to say…that the first option is pretty lousy. It's a sure fire way out but frankly, I would rather not have to use a reset button when there's a small chance to save everything and keep things the way they were." He then gave a smile at his friends. "Let's go be heroes, guys." As the spirits of the group rose, the Crimson Sakuyamon glowed briefly. "If that is your choice, then good luck." She disappeared into Rika's body.

Both tamers took out their D-Arks and noticed the kanji for Heaven and Chaos were flashing across the screens. The blue and red circles surrounding the screens also had the carved kanji signs on them flashing softly. Henry and Terriermon slowly stepped backwards to give their friends some room. They then heard a deafening scream as several psyches had broken free and were making their way towards the group. "Not much time before they get here. Any time now, guys!!" shouted Henry. The other two tamers held their D-Arks out.

"ULTIMATE FUSION!!! DIGITAL ASCENSION ACTIVATE!!!"

I hope this makes up for the many…many weeks of inactivity. I'm just happy that I got some good dialogue and was able to update this on the one year anniversary of the beginning of this book. You know what to do if you wish to leave any comments. Later!


	37. Fourth Arc, Episode VII

Author's Notes: The climax for this story will be divided into two parts and spread out across three chapters…at least that's what I planned. It may wind up a bit shorter or a bit longer. We'll just have to see. Anyways, my lousy excuse for the delay: writer's block, school commitments and my rehashed obsession with video games thanks to MAME and MUGEN. I started up a new journal thanks to Phoenix and so if you want to keep somewhat updated with my life, check it out sometime. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Alright?!?

Ascension – V 4.7

"What are those things, Henry?!?" The boy kept his eyes on the multi-coloured silhouettes that were coming towards them. Before he could think of a theory, he had to take care of something first. "Terriermon, would you mind not digging your nails into my scalp?" After feeling his partner loosen his grip, he started thinking quickly. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that those are the psyches that are supposed to attack us during Chrono Paradox."

"So how do we stop them while our buddies back there do…whatever it is they're doing!!" Henry wanted to turn back and see how things were coming along but as soon as Takato and Rika stated their ascension transformation phrase, the light resulting from the transformation process blinded his vision. "Well, Terriermon. You could always use some of your smooth talking charm to freak out those psyches or something."

"Hey, that charm is for all the ladies out there and those things are definitely not ladies!!" The vaccine Digimon stopped speaking as they saw the psyches right in front of their faces, ready to pounce. "So if you have any ideas on how to fight these things, now would be a good time to share that information!!" 

_"Striker Ignis!!!"_

Out of nowhere, a giant red fox leapt above the startled duo and fired a powerful flamethrower attack to destroy the psyches. Henry was astounded that he could still stand after what had just happened. Terriermon just gulped nervously. "Uh…nice fox?" The red fox promptly disappeared after Henry spoke those words. "Sorry for cutting it close," stated a female voice in an apologetic tone.

"Rika?" The boy turned around to see his friends but instead he saw a powerful female entity. She had the blue fox head gear from Kuzuhamon and her hair was in a single ponytail but the outfit was somewhat bizarre. She had a leather blue vest on covering her shoulders and most of her upper body down to the waist and the Chinese symbol of heaven appeared on both shoulders. Her sleeves were blue as well and she had white gloves on her hands. Perhaps the only real bizarre aspect of the outfit was the odd looking blue leather skirt that was attached to the waist thanks to a belt that was separated into smaller parts with the end of each part having a small blade. The skirt only covered the sides and the back while the front was left exposed. Before you male readers start thinking hentai thoughts, she's wearing blue pants underneath. Her feet were both covered in white boots.

Now that her description is done, we can get back to the tale. "Not exactly, Henry. I'm an incarnation of the power of Heaven with personality traits from both Rika and Renamon. You may address me as Hasu, Scion of Heaven." (AN: Hasu means Lotus in Japanese) Terriermon gave a small sigh. "You know…that up close and personal encounter with those psyches isn't something I would want to do again."

Without warning, someone grabbed Terriermon and placed him in a noogie. "Aw, come on!! You gotta admit that it's a lot of fun when you're on the brink of death!!" That voice had a strange resemblance to Gallantmon's except it was more insane. At least it sounded that way to Henry. "Talon, stop this foolishness." The Avatar of Chaos, who had a holy knight's helmet with the red eyes of a dragon, tossed Terriermon back to his tamer. 

There were no traces of holy knight armour whatsoever. The outfit was entirely red except for the gloves and boots which were white. Some white lines were drawn on to the front of his shirt in a chest design and there were white lines on some parts of his two capes. As for the capes, first there was a tiny cape which only covered a small area of his top torso and it was hovering. Then there was another longer cape that came from his waist and surrounded his legs but it hovered around them, which gave him room to walk, run, kick and so forth. The Hazard symbol appeared on both gloves. 

(AN: I based the looks of Hasu and Talon on the King of Fighters 2001 Bosses, Zero and Igniz respectively)

 "As you wish, Hasu. I'll just blast us out of here instead." Talon's fist glowed a bright crimson as he started focusing his energy. Henry cautiously took a step backwards. A blue aura then came out from Hasu as a ball of energy was floating above her outstretched left hand. "So…where should we aim?"

Talon gave a quick smirk. "Does it matter? The trap dimension that Chrono Paradox sent us to is weakening because it's holding two beings more powerful than it can handle." He then fired a condensed beam in a random direction. Hasu threw the ball in the same direction and the result was that both energy discharges shattered the oblivion around them and bringing the digital world back into view. What they saw was a darkened place with scars upon the soil, indicating that battles had taken place. But nobody was around. "There's no time to waste. We have to find the other Chosen! Then we can focus on undoing all the damage down by Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon." 

"But where do we start looking?" asked Terriermon. On cue, an explosion was heard in the distance. Immediately, Hasu took off in the air. "Grab on to my cloak," ordered Talon. The boy and his partner did so and found themselves fighting the urge to scream as the Avatar of Chaos flew at a spectacular speed.

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"The next time you decide to welcome that many visitors here, Gatomon…you can do it yourself!" grumbled Hawkmon. His DNA Digivolving partner just grunted once. Yolei wished that her partner's wounds would heal faster. "I wonder how the others are faring?" She glanced up from the giant crater that was currently providing some cover from the fight.

"Get down!! Are you nuts?!? The last thing I want is for you to get your head blown off!!" Davis grabbed the girl's waist and forced her down. Ken couldn't help but give a weak smile. "If I didn't know you better, I would say that you cared for her safety." Now, had Davis thought about a good response, he could have made up an excuse about having to take care of her as a friend and as the leader of the group. His actual response…a small blush and a bit of sputtering, which didn't help his dignity.

There was a crash as Shakkoumon fell to the ground and changed back into two Digimon. As the crazed looking Tankmon came over to finish them off, Justimon leapt over him and snatched the two worn out rookies. He quickly dropped them off at the crater to Cody and TK before facing his opponent. "This shouldn't take long. Thunder Clap!!" His mechanical arm slammed the ground, sending a shockwave to the other Digimon who was thrown back by the effect of the attack.

Justimon paused as he noticed the large group that had encircled Imperialdramon, who had upgraded to Paladin Mode thanks to Taichi giving him the Omega Sword as a gift, and Alforceveedramon. The both of them were standing back to back, ready to defend themselves from the unstable mob. "I just love the odds," muttered Taichi under his breath. He moved purely out of reflex as someone initiated combat. Imperialdramon was quick to parry another attack. 

"Voltage Blade!!" Justimon changed his arm again to a red blade of energy before jumping into the fray. However a human shaped Digimon with a strange face and a body made out of flames stopped him from going further. "Ryo!!!" He was about to get up when the Digimon made a leap to attack again. 

"_Striker Aqua!!" A blue fox came crashing down on top of the Digimon's head and starting damaging its body with the simple cause being that fire is weak against water. Justimon quickly got up and noticed Kuzuhamon…or someone that looked like her. They had the same head but the outfit was quite bizarre. "What…?" The female's fist was glowing and had a faint blue aura surrounding it. _

She then proceeded to slam the fist on the ground. "Karmic Justice!!!" Immediately, a vacuum opened up and started spewing out multiple balls of energy that attacked multiple members belonging to the aggressive group of Digimon that had entered in this dimension. Justimon was quite surprised at how easily the group was dispatched. "Rika?" 

The female did not answer as she flipped backwards out of the way of a huge Digimon attempting a body slam attack. "Astral Dance!!" She briefly glowed blue before her aura spread to the other Digimon, pulling it towards her. As soon as the monster was in range, she gave a series of punches and kicks. 

Then she started waving her skirt and flipping towards the monster. The flips combined with the many smaller blades on the ends of her skirt hitting multiple times was more than enough. She quickly turned to the other three Digimon who were just staring. "Well?!? Get to work!!" They all gave a quick 'uh, right!' response. Ryo had planned on teasing her about the skirt but after the punishment she had delivered, that idea was quickly quashed.

Terriermon winced as he saw the brutal damage dealt by the skirt up in the air. His tamer had been able to spot the Digidestined along with his sister hiding in a crater that had been created by an enemy attack a while ago. "Can you land here? I want to check on my sister and the gang before joining in the fight!" Without a word, Talon went into freefall motion, scaring the living wits out of both the human and the Digimon on his cloak before halting just inches above the ground. "Wasn't that fun?" asked Talon in a gleeful tone. 

"That was miles better than the roller coasters in Tokyo Disneyland," said Henry in a dry tone before hopping off of the Avatar of Chaos. After prying Terriermon off his shirt, he was about to run over to the crater before a group of dragon Digimon in the air started swooping down and firing off their attacks. "Genesis Reflector!!" An odd looking circle with a strange design appeared above Henry's head and bounced the attacks back with triple their power. 

Terriermon blinked once. "Damn…that's a broken attack!" The boy, remembering what the term 'broken' meant from his experiences at playing the Digimon card game, just kept focused on reaching his destination. Behind him, Talon had his fists clenched with energy being gathered in a hurry to deal with a large group making their way towards his friends. "Sonic Maelstrom!!!" (suggested BGM: SFA3, Sodom X-Ism stage theme)

He whipped out two balls from his fists which exploded into large shockwaves with the front end of the attack paralyzing whoever touched it and the latter parts slamming into their bodies. "Alright boys, time for some fun!!" As soon as he said that, two wires slid out from under his sleeves. Their movements did not seem to be controlled by the Avatar of Chaos, giving anyone who saw them a feeling that those two are alive.

He moved his body in several directions, causing the wires to slice up any one who was unfortunate to get in their path. On a few occasions, the ends of his two capes would sharpen and stab a few victims before going back to normal. "A crazy skirt with razor blades and a suit that comes with weird cloaks and wires…I have got to find out the name of their tailor!" mumbled the dog bunny. 

Satisfied that his sister and the Digidestined were safe for the moment (and somewhat puzzled with the white haired comatose boy), Henry called out to his partner. "Terriermon!! Get ready to bio-merge! We're going to take some heat off of the others!!" In mere moments, a robotic green behemoth was standing over the crater in which the children were hiding. "Time to kick some booty!!" Inside his sphere, Henry gave a small grin.

With another swipe of the skirt, Hasu had deflected a missile back to the one who fired it. "Things aren't going to get any better until we find Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon!!" Justimon landed beside her after finishing off another opponent. "You might as well take off and find those two since things have settled down somewhat. We'll join you after we finish business here."

She shook her head. "Out of the question. The last thing that I want to happen is for them to use one of you against us as a hostage." If Justimon had a mouth, he would have grinned. "Or it could be that you just don't want me there to bail you out of trouble and save the day again!" The next thing he knew, his head was buried in the sand like an ostrich. 

She mentally summoned all three of her strikers to finish the job before she shot off looking for the two god-like Digimon. It didn't take her too long as all she had to do was follow the source of where the greatest chaos was being created. But even with their new status as the incarnations of Heaven and Chaos, it is uncertain that they can defeat Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon. Talon didn't seem to care at all as Daemon was sent plummeting to the ground by Zeedmillenniumon. "Can you hold off Zeedmillenniumon off for a second? I'm going to try and rip Daemon apart!"

He dashed off before she could say anything. At the same time, her light was blocked as a huge crystal with two heads appeared before her. Both heads simply examined her before exclaiming in a loud voice. "What type of outfit is that?!? Aren't you a woman?!? Aren't you supposed to have good fashion sense?!?" The grins on both heads suggested how much they enjoyed taunting her. With that sexist remark, she tossed all rationality out the window and attacked.

Daemon rose from the ground, somewhat disgruntled that he can't do anything to Zeedmillenniumon. At least so far, his opponent wasn't able to do anything serious to him as well. His thoughts were interrupted when a figure in a strange red suit charged straight at him with his shadow stretching out just as fast. "Playtime is over!!! Chaos Genocide!!!" 

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In the reflecting pool, Amaterasu could see the shadow transform into a copy of Talon before the cloaks and wires of both beings went haywire and attacked Daemon before both beings slammed a final globe of energy from each of their palms. Then they leaped into the air, recombined into one and slammed Daemon to the ground. (AN: Basically, Chaos Genocide is a mix of Morrigan's Darkness Illusion super and Igniz's Brutal God Project super) "That's quite a damaging attack," murmured a male voice behind her.

"Yes. Too bad it won't bring Daemon any closer to death. All of their attacks won't bring him closer to death…and the same goes to Zeedmillenniumon. Death no longer has meaning to them." The male remained silent as he took in this new information. "Then what was the point in bringing forth the ascension of the powers of Heaven and Chaos?"

She noted that he was definitely agitated with his posture changing a bit. "They will prove to be crucial players when it is time to stop those two behemoths. Have you not figured out why I had been working so feverishly lately? It was much trouble to locate and capture just a tiny portion of the energy that was used by the Takamagahara to create the universe in the first place. I still have to ensure that it is ready before time runs out." In front of her was a small container encased in a special force field. 

Amaterasu now had her guest's full attention. "They subconsciously know what to do with it. That knowledge will be their ultimate trump card against our foes. There is a slight chance that Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon will be able to escape the trap but I am certain that they will not." She took the container and gave it to the male. "Please ensure that they receive this package." He cradled it very carefully.

"If you have faith that the contents of this package will help bring Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon to justice, then you have my assurance that your players receive this as quickly as possible." He turned around and left the sanctum. Amaterasu gave a small smile. "Journey well, Ida-Ten." (AN: Ida-Ten is the Japanese Guardian of the Law and symbolizes justice)

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

"Another day, another brush with death. God, I wish I were in school instead," mumbled Kazu. The latest skirmish against the rogue Digimon had not gone well with them outnumbering the tamers five to one. Four to one if you count Beelzemon. And that was during the good and peaceful times. When things got hairy, they often ended up retreating before they were overrun by the enemy.

Morale had been suffering with the increase of the attacks. Even Jeri was succumbing to the demoralizing effect of the prospect of fighting an endless battle. They haven't heard too much from the outside world but the last time they checked, the world was under attack by other Digimon threats. The fact that they had no idea if their loved ones were safe and sound didn't help matters. Alice was feeling this effect most of all. Ever since her appointment as leader of the Shinjuku tamer group, she tried carrying more responsibility than she could handle. In the end, it nearly got her partner killed. Thankfully, a few modify cards and MarineAngemon's healing powers got Dobermon back. 

She gave a small sigh before speaking. "Everyone, listen...I don't know how much longer we can stay like this but I want to be able to give you a choice. If you want, you can go and find someplace to hide and live out the rest of your life. I don't want to force anyone into fighting when they don't have the goal of victory in mind. This is one of those times when the only thing to do is to walk away…" Nobody had said anything as they had their attention on something else. 

The streets were silent. 

This was highly unusual as they would normally be filled with explosions and Digimon voices and the occasional human scream but there was nothing. "What happened?" asked Kenta. Jeri was the first one to step out of their temporary hide out and gasped at the sight before her. The other tamers and Digimon soon joined her and found themselves feeling oddly cold as they saw a giant red liquid slowly make its way towards the city.

About time I got this out. Christ…I think the whole Avatar thing just kept bugging me since I didn't want to introduce overly powered new characters. Now if you excuse me, I need to study and play online Counterstrike. 

By the way…the Journal link is 

I don't update it too much so don't expect a lot from me. 


	38. Fourth Arc, Episode VIII

Author's Notes: Wow…three years since I joined FF.Net. Anyways…I don't know what my estimated time of completion will be so you'll just have to stay tuned. At the end of the chapter, if you don't understand how things resolved, just leave me a review and I'll try and find a link that explains the concept that I used. By the way, for some reason, the link to my journal didn't get published so just click on my profile and click on the website address I left.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any form whatsoever. Alright?!?

Ascension – V 4.8 

"Where did all of the Digimon go? And all those other things that kept coming out of nowhere? It's not like they just disappeared or anything!" exclaimed Kazu. His Digimon partner had started to analyze the red blob along with the surroundings. "It's a safe bet that the red blob had absorbed every single invader, Digimon and non-Digimon alike. However this is only an assumption based on my limited scans of the area."

Alice addressed the Digimon in the group. "That means you guys should make yourselves scarce for a moment. I would rather not have the blob come after us." All traces of their frustration over their losing battle had dissipated with this new development.  "And what of you? You heard Andromon's analysis. The blob can come after anything, regardless of whether it's a Digimon or not," stated Dobermon.

"The mutt's got a point. All the non-Digimon visitors that came here have been made up of both humans and other little freaks," said Impmon after fixing his scarf. Before Alice could argue any further, Leomon noticed that something…or rather someone is missing. "Where did Calumon go off to?"

Kenta frowned. "Didn't we tell him to go hide somewhere while we went into battle? I wonder if he actually stayed at his hiding place or if he kept moving?" Alice mentally cursed herself for her negligent actions. "We better find him fast. The last thing I want is for him to be attacked by that big red blob! Let's go to where we last saw him and then split up from there."

"Too bad we don't have a cream puff to lure the cream puff out," grumbled Impmon as he headed in one direction. Ever since he joined the group, Calumon had kept a bit of distance from him. It was understandable, considering his earlier attempts to delete the little white Digimon. He finally noticed him, standing on top of some rubble with a fearful look in his eyes. "Hey, there you are. Come on…we should get back to the others."

"It's been a long time since anyone was happy. Everything's so bad and sad…" The Digimon's ears shrunk back. Impmon joined him at the top of the rubble and gave a sigh. "That's true. That's why there's us to try and make things all better." He paused, finding himself surprised that he uttered those words.

"Wow…you sure have changed, Impmon." That was the understatement of the century…at least the little virus Digimon thought that it was the biggest understatement of the century. He gave a small smirk. "Yeah…surprised me too. Let's get outta here." Both Digimon hopped off the rubble and moved to reunite with their group.

Before they could get very far, a strange looking creature with a red wire attached from its bottom came into view. Calumon blinked once. "Is that guy friendly?" Impmon fought the urge to slap the little Digimon silly for even suggesting something like that. It was a good thing too because if he did slap Calumon, they would have probably taken a hit when the strange creature fired. "I guess not!!"

They ran as fast as they could with their stubby little legs but the creature had the advantage in terms of speed. Accuracy was another matter as the next shot exploded right behind the two Digimon instead of hitting them, sending them both sprawling on the ground. "Argh!! I think I got dirt up my nose!!" Impmon summoned the power of evolution to transform himself into Beelzemon before forming his weapon. "Corona Blaster!!!" The pink beam hit the other creature, changing it back into a tiny bit of red blob before disappearing.

As soon as the one creature vanished, more came from out of nowhere to take its place. The demon lord Digimon opted to run but he was effectively surrounded. And he had no idea how he could summon the others to his aid. He braced himself as the creatures closed in on him. 'This isn't…good?' The creatures had paused and focused themselves on something else. 'What are they looking at?'

They took off before Beelzemon could figure it out. "Beelzemon!! Are you alright? We all heard some fireworks going on around here!" Calumon grinned happily as he leapt into Jeri's arms. Her look of surprise turned into delight as she hugged the small Digimon. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Anyways, what did happen here?" asked Alice.

"Me and the cream puff nearly got done for with a huge swarm of freaks surrounding us. I think that they're part of the red blob. When I blasted one, it turned into a portion of it and then disappeared. I'm just wondering what got them so worked up." He was quite stumped. "There!" It was MarineAngemon's tiny voice who spoke up. Following the flight trajectory, the creatures were headed towards a pair of giant buildings.

"What's so interesting over there?" asked Kazu. Andromon had activated his sensors and begun scanning for anything in particular about the buildings. Then he found what he was looking for. But it wasn't his scanners that helped him find what he was looking for. It was his instinct. "There's a Digimon over there. With a large abundance of data!"

Beelzemon grinned. "And that may be my way of purging this data corruption condition of mine!" (AN: Recall that the golden wings are a result of the data corruption and that he needs to continuously load data in order to restore what is being eaten) Alice frowned. "Hold up for a minute. There's nothing there. Is it invisible or something? Because I haven't heard of any Digimon like that."

"So we have to conclude that there is something simulating a Digimon to trigger our senses along with those things that attacked Beelzemon and Calumon. Or that there is an invisible Digimon which may have popped out from another tear," stated Dobermon. His tamer crossed her arms before making up her mind. "Let's get to the bottom of this. Everyone be on guard." Her blue eyes looked back at the buildings and the small patch of green that was growing little by little in the night sky.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Hasu found herself lying on the ground several kilometres away from the battle, courtesy of Zeedmillenniumon. She wasn't hurt but the question on how to defeat their adversaries weighed heavily on her mind. "Isn't there any way to kill them at all?" She didn't realize that she had asked the question out loud.

"Unfortunately, no. And there would be even more disastrous consequences if the two of them eventually come to that conclusion. Their plan of action would be to manipulate space and time to try and create a prison of some sort for the other. Something like the Dark Ocean but a dimension which could hold a God. Needless to say, it would be very messy. And weakening those two would take an extremely large effort with their high amounts of physical stamina." The Scion of Heaven flipped back on to her feet and confronted the stranger behind her, who was holding a package in his arms. "This package is courtesy of Amaterasu. She says you will know what to do with it."

He simply handed her the package before walking away and vanishing into thin air. A few seconds later, she heard a crash and saw Talon sprawled on the ground. He was grumbling as he rubbed his head. "I didn't realize that Daemon's attacks had that much priority over mine!! I'll have to revise my strategy…" The package then caught his eye. "What's that? An early Christmas gift?"

Hasu gave a small gasp when she saw what was contained within the package. "I don't believe this…" There was some commotion as she noticed her striker foxes running towards her with the others close behind. As soon as they got within hearing range, she spoke to them. "You guys have some good timing. I'll need you to try and stall Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon for a bit!"

"Are you nuts?!? How the hell can we hold off two super Digimon?!?" exclaimed Taichi. The guy did have a good point but still, there was something about this package that could help stop Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon for good. Hasu quickly gave a reply. "I don't know!! Do the funky chicken dance! Challenge them to a game of charades!! Anything! Just stall them!! Talon…come with me!"

Inside Henry's head, Terriermon scoffed. "'Just stall them!!' she says. Easier said than done! Especially because of the fact that there's no way to win a game of Rou Shambo against these guys!! Zeedmillenniumon doesn't have any equipment and Daemon could probably survive the hit and hit back twice as hard!!" "Again with Rou Shambo, eh Terriermon?" It wouldn't be too long until their enemies arrived. Talon and Hasu had sufficiently annoyed the two God-like Digimon to get them to momentarily forget about each other.

"So what's the big deal?" Hasu took out a container from the package and showed it to the Avatar of Chaos. "Wait a sec…this is…I know what this is but I just can't put my finger on it!!" Fortunately, he didn't have to think too long as Hasu provided an answer. "I recognize this energy pattern from a myth read by Princess Sakuya. The myth describes the energy used by the Takamagahara to create the universe. This container has a portion of that same energy!! Do you realize what this means?" 

"No, I don't. If you recall, I just started remembering where this energy comes from and-" Before he could ramble on further, Hasu cut him off. "With our powers and this type of energy, we can create a pocket universe, one that has no connection to the rest of reality. Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon won't be able to break out of this pocket universe!! The legends that Sakuya had read also describe what the Takamagahara used to create the universe. It was some sort of ritual."

She paused for a moment. "There's a bit of a problem with getting those two near enough the entrance gateway to get sucked in. It also takes some time to close and it may be too much time for them to force their way out." Talon crossed his arms. "Might I mention that it's most likely that the ritual will exhaust us and leave us vulnerable to attack? Still…I guess this is our best shot. Now if we can just find enough time to actually try this out, then maybe we could be in good shape." 

While Taichi and Megagargomon were struggling with Daemon, Zeedmillenniumon was obviously enjoying himself by toying with Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. One can't blame him too much. He did get vanquished by the powerful vaccine Digimon when he was still Lunarmillenniumon and well…he doesn't like to lose. 

The red head was taunting endlessly as the Digimon kept attacking to hear Imperialdramon's cries of agony. However, the blue head was chanting a mantra. "Win the war first. Extract revenge later. Win the war first. Extract revenge later." Finally, Zeedmillenniumon heeded to the mantra and tossed Imperialdramon aside before planning on how to deal with the two Avatars and Daemon.

He paused when he noticed Ryo, who had separated from Monodramon earlier. "You're enjoying every minute of this, aren't you? You know that no matter what, you come out as the final victor. Your fight with Daemon only helped to speed up your purpose…to eradicate all life." Both heads chuckled. "The way you state my purpose makes it sound so diabolical. I prefer to look at it as creating a new paradise for the next evolution of life, should it come along."

"The problem with that is that nobody was meant to be perfect and thus, nobody will be able to live in paradise. Nature demands that every sentient species be flawed in some way. You are truly a fool, Zeedmillenniumon. Even I acknowledge my flaws and work on adapting to them." Daemon had appeared from behind after tossing Megagargomon and Taichi away with a small amount of effort. The other Digimon snorted. "Tell me…what is the point of conquest? After conquering something, it becomes quite dull since you have so much administrative work to do in running your world of darkness. I would have thought that you would have had bigger goals." 

Daemon crossed his arms. "I prefer to be a little more realistic. Besides, your goal of eradicating all life in every single quantum plane is ridiculous." Both heads of Zeedmillenniumon simply smirked. "Perhaps it is a ridiculous goal but I have the capability and the time to pursue it. I have also made the choice to pursue the goal and will crush anyone who opposes me!!"

Hasu came up from behind Ryo. "In making your choice to eradicate all life…" She paused to address Daemon. "…and your choice to pursue conquest, both of you have condemned yourselves. You see…the choices that you made for your goals attempt to smother free will and choice. That is too precious for us to give up." Both Digimon were startled as they noticed billions of white spectres coming from out of nowhere. "And so every single living sentient being…human, Digimon and others…every single life from this universe, from the other three universes and the other planes to which your battle has opened up rifts to…they have chosen to oppose you." The spectres then flew in two directions. 

(Suggested BGM: Angel Sanctuary's "Astral Power")

Ryo then whipped out his blue Digivice and shot out a thick beam towards Zeedmillenniumon. He yelled out his surprise before struggling to get free. Daemon laughed to himself before quickly deciding that a tactical retreat was in order. However, he too found himself ensnared by a similar beam. "What?!? I have had no human as a partner!! How can this be?!?" He looked to where the beam was coming from and was shocked to find it originating from the two Digivices belonging to Neo Saiba. 

Nobody knew how he came to consciousness again. The sadistic part of him which had ruled him since Rei was sent into a coma was supposedly broken when ArcaDemon was deleted. However the real Neo fought to come back…even for a brief moment. Why? So he could protect his sister. She may be in a coma but she's not dead yet. And besides…the opportunity to get the last laugh between him and Daemon was too great to pass up. 

Yolei had freaked out when he woke up and Davis was the first one to confront him, in case he did anything out of the ordinary. But all he did was ask to get closer to the fight. Kari sensed that he had a change of heart and volunteered to escort him with Nefertimon while TK and Pegasusmon acted as extra bodyguards. The rest period had been enough to regain the energy needed to armour digivolve. 

"As I recall, part of ArcaDemon's code came from you. Technically, he was your creation. Since ArcaDemon was my partner briefly, I decided to give this a shot and what do you know? You're stuck!!" Neo gave a dark grin. "This is going to be sweet…" At the other end, Ryo turned his attention towards the two. "Better hurry up with whatever you plan on doing!!"

Talon felt slightly uncomfortable as they had no idea how to properly perform the ritual. He hoped that Hasu's intuition was correct and that they can pull it off. 'This is it. This is where we either triumph…or die.' He glanced at his partner and nodded once. She then opened the container and let the energy out.

"_Sleeping strength from within, we call upon you..." Both of them flared as the powers of Chaos and Heaven responded to the first incantation._

"_...and the guidance of the Alpha Messiah…" (AN: I'll explain about the Alpha Messiah at the end) The sky had now changed with a gaping black hole forming above the captive Digimon. _

"_…we navigate the roads of destiny, and beseech you, listen…" Lightning had started to flash up in the sky._

"_…hear our cry…and obey our command!!!" Now everyone's attention was focused on the formation in the sky._

"**_TWILIGHT OBLIVION!!!!_"**

Zeedmillenniumon and Daemon fought to get out but could not as they started getting sucked into the vortex up above. Now the Digidestined were all standing together. 

"Consider this a message…" shouted Davis.

"…from a world that does not want you or need you…" continued Ken.

Cody was the next to speak. "…a future that is ours to decide…"

Yolei kept the ball rolling. "…and from every child standing here…"

There was a look of satisfaction on TK's face. "…whom you disrespected…"

Kari finished up the sentence. "…and underestimated."

Finally, everyone's voice, be it human or Digimon, said the next two words. "**YOU LOSE!!!!!!!!"**

Amaterasu was touched at the amount of determination the children showed however she knew otherwise. 'Not yet. We have played our trump card but they still have one final opportunity to win this game.' Behind her, Ida-Ten was waiting anxiously for the final outcome. 

Both Digimon let out a shout of frustration before passing the entrance. Talon and Hasu focused every single drop of energy they had into closing the vortex. The fatigue was visible on their faces. Even though they wanted to succumb to it, the encouraging voices of their friends kept them on their feet.

The red head was seething while the blue head was snarling. "On the contrary…victory is still within my grasp!! Daemon!! If we combine a focused beam with a dimensional displacement of 0.2 eps, we can escape back into the digital world and teach those children why they should fear us!!!" (AN: I made up the unit. Here, an ep is how beings with dimensional powers measure how much special energy is required for whatever they want to do.) Daemon growled once before nodding his head in agreement. 

The two Digimon focused their powers towards the shrinking hole that was the gateway between the pocket universe and the normal universe. But as soon as they had charged up, they turned and fired upon each other, ensuring that there would be enough time to close the gateway. It was quite a twist of things since they were the ones who sealed their own fate. Being stuck for eternity with only the other for company. 

Amaterasu could not conceal her gleeful tone. "Good. That went well. I'll have to make some arrangements to give John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern some reward in the future." Ida-Ten just gave a confused look. The sun goddess blushed briefly before beginning her explanation. "The two gentlemen I just described were the inventors of game theory which was quite helpful in predicting what Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon would do if they just got sucked into the pocket universe."

The guardian of justice frowned, indicating that he was still left in the dark. Amaterasu continued speaking. "What just happened is that Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon were placed in a situation similar to the Prisoner's Dilemma, an important concept of game theory. There were four scenarios that could have happened…"

Scenario 1: Both of them cooperate, fire their beams and open the vortex enough for both of them to escape.

Scenario 2: Zeedmillenniumon fires his beam at the vortex while Daemon fires his beam at Zeed. The beam that Zeed had fired would have opened the vortex enough for one to escape. Daemon would escape and Zeed would be too disoriented to try and escape again. Thus, he would be trapped and Daemon would be free.

Scenario 3: Daemon fires his beam at the vortex while Zeed blasts him. The beam fired by Daemon would be big enough for one to escape and so Zeed would get out while Daemon would be trapped.

Scenario 4: Both blast each other. The vortex closes and both become trapped.

"…assuming that both Daemon and Zeedmillenniumon are rational, they would undoubtedly be looking out for their own interests. Both of them defect and blast each other because the structure of the situation offers an incentive for each to defect. Any rational, self-interested being would defect under these circumstances. This is why sovereign states will often fail to cooperate even though cooperation offers the potential for substantial gains. We have seen this often in all four universes."

Ida-Ten thought about this and then gave a grave look. "What would have happened if the first scenario came to be? That was quite a gamble you had taken." Amaterasu simply smiled once. "A gamble which had the probability of them sealing themselves inside the pocket universe quite high. Now, there is much work to be done and we must speak with Talon and Hasu."

DONE!!!! Wow…this was a great pleasure to write. Anyways, my inspirations for this were Legend Maker (writer of Black & White, a very good Teen Titans fanfic), Silent Mobius and Angel Sanctuary music. A few minor tidbits to take care of…

The Flamedramon/Renamon situation will be dealt with in the V Tamers side story. I thought I mentioned this earlier.

Attacks for Talon and Hasu were made up from the various moves from King of Fighters and other fighting games.

The Alpha Messiah is the one being who created the early Gods and the early planes of Heaven. They were then sent to different points in the cosmos and used the abundance of Croso energy (a word I made up) to initiate the Big Bang and create as many universes as they can with that energy.

I think that's it. Anyways, I'll be off to Montreal on the 18th so if you live there, maybe we might meet up. Who knows?!? This is Epsilon Zeta signing off. 


	39. Fourth Arc, Episode IX

Author's Notes: Wow. It's been ages since I sat down to write an instalment of this story. To be honest though, my interests in writing are near zilch. And let's not start on my interest in Digimon. I still intend to finish this story somehow. I want to have at least one completed series under my belt.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, alright?!?

Ascension – V 4.9

When Neo Saiba awoke, he felt as light as a feather. He felt immensely invigorated for some reason. However, the new life that he felt left him quickly as he heard some voices.

"Oh, my gosh! What happened to him?!?"

"I can still feel a pulse…"

"He's still alive? Then why is he like that?"

"Maybe I can send a message to Joe to get him to check him out."

"It's possible that he's just really exhausted."

"Don't let your guard down, guys. He may be up to something."

"I don't think Neo is in any condition to do anything."

Out of all seven of them, Neo vaguely recognized the voice of his rival, Taichi Yagami but it seemed to be garbled up with something else. He looked at the scene and could only come up with three words to describe the situation. "What the hell?!?" Actually, the word 'hell' should be replaced with a more colourful word. I'll give you a hint: it has four letters and begins with the letter 'f'.

To understand why he swore, you'll have to picture a scene where you are seeing yourself, lying on the ground unconscious with six children and seven Digimon (six being the partners of the children and one large mega level Digimon) surrounding your body. That's exactly what Neo saw. He didn't recognize anyone except for Taichi. Actually, that wasn't Taichi. It was another boy who wore goggles like Taichi. "What is this?!? Can anyone hear me?!?"

A girl with short brown hair spoke up. "Joe set up a meeting time at his home. We'll bring Neo there so he can get a look." The larger Digimon split up into a blue dragon Digimon the size of one of the children and Taichi. "Where did Takato and Rika go? Did they get sucked up in that portal too?!?" The girl started becoming agitated.

Neo saw another boy approaching the group with a rabbit Digimon on his head. He held the hand of a little girl in pink. Taichi gave a weak smile before resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "They'll be back. They don't seem the type who wouldn't do everything in their power to return where they belong."

"And they got a lot of it at their fingertips thanks to that wicked display we saw earlier!" commented the rabbit Digimon. The boy, whose head he was on, spoke next. "At the moment, we'll have to go on without them. We have to get back home as soon as possible. I want to make sure that Kazu and Kenta are still holding up. It looks like our next destination is Azulongmon's lair."

"With the disaster that we've prevented, providing a ride home is the least he should do," grumbled another boy with blue eyes and brown hair. On his back, a small dragon Digimon slept on. "In the meantime, we'll keep sending messages to Rika and Takato's D Terminals," said the blonde boy with the hat.

Neo watched as the group left with his body. "Wait!!" He ran after them and tried to get their attention but they passed through him as if he were a ghost. 'I'm dead?!? But I still have a pulse…right?!?' The cold reality slowly dawned on Neo as he realized that all he had were many unanswered questions and a gap in his memory. "What has happened to me?!?" He collapsed on his knees and clutched his head, hoping to find some fragment of memory.

"You have undergone a death and a rebirth, brother." Neo gasped as he heard a familiar and gentle voice. One that he had not heard in a long time. "But I'm glad you came back." He looked up to see his younger sister, Rei Saiba, standing over him with a small smile on her face. "Rei…you're okay!!!" The boy jumped up and hugged her as if his life depended on it. "But how did you get here? When did you wake up?"

Rei wiggled out of her brother's grip and spoke. "I'm not awake back in the real world. My spirit has been travelling through the digital world, at least what they told me."

Neo blinked. "They?"

Rei nodded. "The two nice old heads on that one big green turtle with a forest for a shell. I found out about what happened to me and to you." She giggled once before continuing. "It's kind of weird. I always used to come to you for answers in the past and now, the roles have been reversed. It'll probably take you a while to understand what I'm saying though when I answer your questions."

"Actually, I think it would be better if we got out of here and back to Mom and Dad. They're probably worried sick about us." He took her hand. "Wait a sec! How are we supposed to get out of here? This really stinks!!"

"Even if you knew how to get out, you won't be able to reunite with your body until you come to terms with what you did." Neo paused at Rei's statement. "Right now, you're not mentally stable to return to your body. As for me…the two headed turtle said that you will need my help and that's why I can't go back to the real world…where I can't run like the wind."

"Rei…you know?" For a moment, Neo felt slightly relieved with the fact that he won't have to divulge the fact that his sister won't be able to walk again. She nodded sadly. "Brother, I've accepted what has happened to me. Now you must do the same and release your hatred of Hideto or the Neo Saiba that should not have existed will be reborn."

"Forgive Hideto?!? He's the one who caused this whole mess to happen!!! And what do you mean the Neo that should not have existed will be reborn?!?" Neo forced himself to calm down.

Rei spoke again. "You've just proved the point that you're not mentally ready to return. As long as you keep your hatred, you keep the other Neo alive. Your memory gaps are because of him. When you fully released your hatred, your mind switched out in a sense and the other one took over until now when you resurfaced." She paused. "In any case, we have a new journey ahead to get you on the road to recovery." After saying that, she took her brother's hand and started walking in another direction with Neo reluctantly following her.

**OOOOOOOOOOOO**

The only noises in the chamber were the sounds of Zhuqiaomon's slow breathing as he slept and Shibumi tapping away at the computer console to ensure that everything remained stable. The man had started to make calculations as to when Zhuqiaomon's data would be stable enough to bring back the little girl's partner. He hoped that the equations would come out in his favour.

He paused when he heard a pair of voices quietly arguing amongst themselves. "Just let me do the talking, you knucklehead!!" hissed a female voice. There was some grumbling from the other figure. Shibumi blinked as two figures, one blue female and one red male came out from the shadows. "Excuse me? Are you Mr. Mizuno?" The human nodded once. "My name is Hasu and my friend here is Talon. We've come to ask you some questions."

Shibumi narrowed his eyes. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't answer right away." He noticed the appearance of his visitors. "Odd…I thought that all Digimon have the 'mon' ending in their names." While Talon observed the giant phoenix, Hasu spoke to Shibumi. "We're not exactly Digimon. Let's just say we're the latest evolution of both human beings and Digimon."

"A new type of symbiotic evolution between humans and Digimon? Fascinating…so how can I help you?" asked the computer programmer. Hasu pulled out a computer disk and inserted it into the console. The console automatically opened up a menu with some files on it. She double clicked one icon. "Can you identify this program? An associate of mine told me that you may have some knowledge of this." The screen started filling up with lines of computer code.

Shibumi frowned. "I'm not sure. I recognize some lines of computer code but not enough to get a full picture. Have you tried running the program?" The female avatar spoke her next sentence in an icy tone that gave the programmer shivers. "Running the program in this environment is the LAST thing we want to do."

"In that case I'm as much in the dark as you are, Miss Hasu. Unless you can show me something else that's related to the program." She paused before minimizing the window with the code and opened up a media file. Shibumi looked in horror as he saw a red jelly substance spreading in West Shinjuku. "What is that?!?"

"That's the same program that she just showed ya. At least that's what I was told by the one who sent us. As we speak, it's causing a big, freaking mess back in the human world in more ways than one," replied Talon without looking back at the duo. The programmer blinked in surprise. How could they be one and the same?!?

"If I am able to get to the bottom of this mystery, will you two be able to utilize what I find and save the day?" asked Shibumi softly. An uncomfortable silence settled in as neither avatar could not give an honest answer to that question.

**OOOOOOOOOOOO**

"The gateway has been set. When you pass through it, you will arrive in West Shinjuku in the human realm," stated Azulongmon. Ryo smiled faintly. "You hear that, Monodramon? I'll be able to come home." The small Digimon just gave a 'thumbs up' gesture and a yawn.

Henry glanced behind him to the other Chosen Children. "Well…I guess this is goodbye." Terriermon gave a little wave. "At least for now. I mean…who knows how many menaces from beyond will pop up? It's a sure bet that we'll have to join forces to kick some major butt." The Chinese boy grinned at the statement. "Tastefully said, Davis."

Taichi decided to speak up. "Just keep in mind what I said, Henry!! You and your partner have got a lot of potential!!" And at this moment, Kari…erupted for lack of a better word. "What is it with you and your obsession with posing?!? Did you watch too much sentai shows with all the heroes doing crazy martial arts poses or something growing up?!?!"

"Um…just what exactly is a sentai show, squirt?" As this conversation went on, Ryo and Monodramon went through the gateway. Henry followed the boy with Terriermon and Suzie close to him. The small rabbit Digimon just shook his head in pity before he vanished from the eyesight of the other Chosen. "A world without sentai shows? No spandex heroes, funky monsters and realistic robots?!? Talk about torture!!"

When Henry's vision returned to him, he was startled at the sight of a city on the edge of oblivion, even more so than when they had left. "I think this should be the last time you leave the entire world in Kazu and Kenta's hands, Henry," chirped Terriermon. The Chinese tamer frowned as he felt his sister huddle closer to him. "Cut them some slack, Terriermon. There's got to be a reasonable explanation for this!" His eyes fell to the remains of a fairly recent newspaper and he noticed the date printed on it.

"We've been gone for three months?!? But…we've only been there for about one day!! I didn't realize that there would this huge of a difference in the passage of time between our realms!" murmured Henry. He could worry about that later. Right now, he and Ryo have to go find Kazu and Kenta. He turned to find their other two companions but he didn't see anything. Then he heard Ryo's voice shout from a couple of feet to the north.

"Henry!! Over here!! I think I found your friends…or rather they found me and Monodramon!!" Henry made his way over to the other Tamer's position and was surprised to say the least at the current group assembled. "Jeri?!? Since when did you become a Tamer?!?"

"More importantly, who is the Goth chick and why is Beelzemon with you?!? Wasn't he trying to kill us a while ago?!?" exclaimed Terriermon. A slight frown appeared on Alice's face. "We don't have time for Twenty Questions. There is a crisis looming and we will need your help."

"I don't mind helping but I would like to be roughly caught up on things," stated Henry. Alice briefly told him about the new problems with extra portals opening, Beelzemon's change, the mysterious red blob's destructive capability and now the red blob's current behaviour moving towards the large buildings, where the sky directly above them turned into a green colour. "We originally intended to find out about the program simulating the Digimon's data when Andromon's sensors detected over 400 humans in those buildings. We need to get them evacuated now before the red blob gets too close."

Henry came up with a suitable plan. "Alright…you guys can do the evacuating. Me, Ryo and Beelzemon will try to hold off the blob for as long as possible while you guys get as many people out. Terriermon, you think you can do this one more time?" The rookie vaccine grinned. "Ask and ye shall receive! That's me, the miracle rabbit!!"

The Legendary Tamer looked once at his partner Digimon. The rookie rubbed his eyes and then grinned. "I'm still feeling bushed but I'll nap later. Let's do this, Ryo!" exclaimed Monodramon. Ryo just smiled before taking out his D-Ark.

"Biomerge Activate!!"

**OOOOOOOOOOOO**

Yamaki played with his lighter some more as technicians scurried about the office area. "How much longer until Juggernaut is fully online?" Riley gave him a report from her seat. "At this rate, it will be up and running in three minutes. The other programs over the world will also be fully online around the same time."

Janyu kept his eye on the monitor and frowned when he noticed some strange lines of code. "Yamaki? What is with this strange code in the Neo Juggernaut?" The other man placed the lighter in his pocket. "I ordered my technicians to add a little something to make it more effective. That's all."

"I would have preferred that you had consulted me and my colleagues first before doing something like this," said the Chinese man. Yamaki gave a slight smirk. "Of course. My apologies." Janyu went back to looking through the strange code and then asked another question to the Hypnos director.

"I recognize this line of code. All of this code creates a piggyback function! What did you do, Mr. Yamaki? What did you add?" Yamaki ignored him and asked Riley again for the time.

"Ninety seconds left, sir."

"Dammit, Yamaki! What did you do?!?" shouted Janyu in frustration. Yamaki strode forward to where Janyu stood and stared him in the eye. "I did everything in my power to fix the mess that you started years ago. My technicians told me that your Neo Juggernaut program ran efficiently but to try and pull off what you had in mind…sending all of these life forms back to where they came from? That would essentially rewrite the laws of quantum physics and they didn't see how this would work! So I ordered that the original Juggernaut program piggyback onto your program and override it in certain areas to make sure that we don't have to deal with this ever again!!"

Janyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're even going to destroy those Digimon…who have bonded to humans and fought to defend us?!?" Yamaki simply shrugged. "They can think of it as a final sacrifice. If you wish, you can honour them with something but you won't see me shedding any tears over this."

"Juggernaut is fully active!! I repeat Juggernaut is fully active!! It looks like that our first customer is that big red blob!!" exclaimed Megan. "The big red blob is being the first customer all over the world, according to these reports," stated Riley.

'Once we get rid of the red blob, it won't take too long for all other digital life to be deleted. How delightful,' thought Yamaki to himself. Riley and Megan continued to provide reports. "We have contact! The red blob is in touch with Juggernaut! Commencing deletion…"

"We have an incoming report from the United States!! Strange…this message is full of broken code!!" Riley gasped as new messages popped up on her terminal.

"What's going on?!?" barked Yamaki.

"Deletion process has been terminated for some reason! I can't start it up again!! The red blob must be affecting Juggernaut somehow!" Megan shielded herself as some sparks flew out of her console. "The blob is starting to affect all of our systems thanks to our link with the Juggernaut!!"

"Terminate the link!!"

"Unable to comply, sir!! We're locked out!!" The computer equipment in the chamber started sparkling with electricity and flickered dangerously. A discharge of electricity came out of a console and to Janyu's horror, struck Dolphin. "Rob!!" He rushed over to his friend's side to feel a pulse but got nothing. "No…"

'Where did it all go wrong?!?' Yamaki activated the fire alarm. "Everybody get out of here now!! Move!!" Janyu found himself being pulled to his feet by the other Monster Makers. "You heard him! Let's get out of here!!"

"You have to come too, sir!!" shouted Riley. Yamaki made his way towards the stairs. "Not yet! I have to make sure that everyone else is evacuated to safety first! You go without me!! That's an order!!" With that said, he dashed upstairs. As Riley prepared to leave, she hoped that would not be the last time she would see him.

After more than a year in hiatus, I'm back and I'm going to try and give this story the proper send off to completion. The conclusion should hopefully not take as damn long…


	40. Finale Tamers Module

Author's Notes: It's been more than three years since I started this. I never thought I would pick this up again with my lack of interest in Digimon and all but the prospect of finally finishing this story is a bit too good to pass up. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for you, I can't say goodbye to this overall storyline just yet since the finale is going to be divided into three modules (as you'll find out) and then have a proper epilogue. Yes, I know I'm pretty lousy when it comes to commitment sometimes but I'll do my best.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, alright?

Ascension – V 4.0 (Tamers Module)

The afternoon weather was pretty brutal with temperatures hovering around 25 degrees Celsius, which translates to seventy or eighty something Fahrenheit (feel free to do the actual conversion yourself). Students and teachers who had to spend a good chunk of time at school were simply thankful that their buildings had installed air conditioners. But for a sixteen year old Suzie Wong, she preferred to be roasting in the hot sun rather than listen to her history teacher give a flawed lecture.

"Around December of 1937, the Japanese forces had helped to establish order and control within the City of Nanjing. Over the course of the next year, they would spread their efforts and assist all of eastern China," droned the elderly female instructor.

Suzie forced herself not to snort out loud in disgust. Her father had told her the truth a few years ago about how lucky her great-grandparents were to escape the Japanese when they went on a seven week rampage within the city. 'Please tell me that the class is over…' Her long hair draped over her chair like a cape as she leaned back into it.

Ten minutes later and the teacher continued to speak. "So the only option open to Roosevelt, who had been moving forward with his 'Plan Victory', was to use embargoes to force resource-poor Japan into war."

'With the amount of denial in the history that we're being taught, it's no wonder that the rest of the world is still mad.' Finally to Suzie's relief, the bell rung to signal the end of class and subsequently the end of the day. The class representative did the usual 'Stand and Bow' routine as the teacher left the room before the students filed out of the classroom.

Suzie cleaned up her desk and quickly placed her school items into her bag. It's about 3:45 in the afternoon and she has to meet up with Ai and Mako at their usual meeting place which is a secluded area in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden near the high school. She finished packing up and left the room. As soon as she reached outside, a familiar weight landed on her head. "So how was school today?" asked Lopmon.

"Same as usual except with our history teacher continuing to talk about flawed history." Suzie moved her right hand to stroke her Digimon's head. It took about a year and a half for Lopmon to return to her after she gave her data to Zhuqiaomon. It was thanks to a good amount of work from her father and Shibumi that she was able to reunite with her partner.

It felt hard to believe that about ten years ago, the world was in chaos with the D-Reaper and Juggernaut running amok. The two programs had attempted to destroy each other repeatedly and the world was simply caught in the middle. 'When all looked lost, the Avatar of Chaos and the Scion of Heaven came through… geez, I sound like a preacher!' She couldn't exactly remember what the two did since at the time of those events she was only a six year old girl. At that time, she was still in emotional turmoil over the loss of Lopmon. 'Seriously… I keep forgetting to talk to Henry and ask him what happened! I guess I'll have to wait until after he finishes finals at Tokyo University.'

"Suzie!" The teenager looked up to see Mako waving enthusiastically at her. His attire consisted of a white dress shirt with the school crest on the left breast pocket, a belt, dark blue dress pants and sneakers. He was slightly shorter than Suzie but considering the age difference, that's nothing surprising. His hair had grown out a bit with streaks of red in it to differentiate himself from others. "You look absolutely beautiful as always. May I have the pleasure of taking you on a date this weekend?"

Ai stood behind him and wore a similar uniform to Suzie (with a minor difference because they were in different grades) which included the same dress shirt, a skirt that stopped right above the knees and white socks. Both girls wore different shoes. Her brown hair was kept at shoulder length and had not been styled in any fashion. "Mako, she's older than you. There's no way that you two would be able to hit it off."

Suzie had an amused look as the male twin glared at his sister. "She's only two years older than me! Besides, you've dated guys who were just as old as Suzie! What's the big difference?"

"It's quite simple, really. Girls like me and Suzie mature quickly while guys take longer because of their macho pride and all that," replied Ai in a simple tone.

"I feel enlightened already," muttered Mako.

"Wasn't Impmon supposed to be with you?" asked Lopmon as she noticed that there was a member of their little group missing.

Mako snapped out of his foul mood and addressed the only Digimon with them. "He had his usual appointment so he'll be running late. The good news is that with the new upgraded computers, he won't have to come in too frequently for new data infusions! When he gets back, we can do our usual patrol rounds and then get back to our homes to cram for exams."

"Sounds fun," replied Suzie dryly.

**0000000000**

"So, doc… how am I?" asked Impmon before hopping off the examination bed. The room itself looked like a normal doctor's office but had several computers and machines running in the background which gave it more of a 'top secret lab' atmosphere.

"With the last data infusion, you should be okay for around six months but just to be on the safe side, I suggest you see us at least twelve weeks from now," replied Janyu who had long ago given up on getting Impmon not to call him 'doc'. For some reason, it makes him feel older than he is.

"Twelve weeks, huh? Fine. See ya around, doc." Impmon left the room and emerged in a corridor where he could see doors to other offices much like Janyu's for the rest of the staff. Essentially, this is a special medical wing for Digimon and special programmers are examined and trained to act as Digimon doctors. Janyu and his crew (minus the late Rob McCoy) were the ones who acted as the first doctors and they eventually taught others how to treat Digimon. The funding for the equipment and personnel came from the government.

Impmon walked down the corridor until he reached the door which led to the stairs. He climbed on the railing and slid all the way down to the first floor before walking through the front doors to the outdoors. The rookie Digimon stretched before noticing the presence of another Digimon. "Sup, toots?"

"At least have the courtesy to call me by my proper name, Impmon," grumbled Renamon as she phased into view. "And because of some rather unexpected circumstances, the weekly combat drill has been pushed back a day."

"So I get to pummel ya on Saturday instead? Works for me, lady," said the virus Digimon with a cocky smirk on his face. Renamon rolled her eyes before moving off to spread the news to the others. Impmon gave a chuckle under his breath before he evolved to Beelzemon and walked to the curb near the road where cars drove through. "Behemoth!"

The vehicle zoomed past a few bewildered motorists and stopped near the demon lord Digimon. Before he got on, he noticed that his ride had a passenger already. All three green eyes glared at the small white Digimon clenched to the front of the vehicle. "What do you think you're doing, Calumon?"

"I wanted to come along for the ride! It was fun!" replied Calumon gleefully with his ears spread out.

Beelzemon rolled all three of his eyes. "It's been ten years and you still act like a brat. You should grow up." The white Digimon hopped on to Beelzemon's shoulder as he got on the motorcycle. He started up the engine and began to drive towards the usual meeting place.

"So what are you up to?" asked Calumon as he enjoyed the ride.

"Patrol as usual. Why would you wanna hang around us for? Aren't there desserts calling out for you, cream puff?" Beelzemon came to a stop as a traffic light turned red.

"I have to wait until closing hours before I can head to the bakery and see what leftovers they have there!" Calumon has become a frequent visitor to the bakery over the years where Takato's parents continued to work.

"What about Jeri's restaurant? If you ask real nice, I'm sure that she can give you a little treat. I can drop you off before patrol starts." The light turned green again and the demon lord Digimon accelerated his motorcycle.

"Really? Thanks a lot!"

**00000000000**

Leomon carefully eyed the target that was within striking distance. He carefully pulled out his large blade and allowed his instinct to let him know when the time was right. Five seconds… four… three… two… one…

With a mighty roar, he launched himself at the huge chunk of meat lying on the table and proceeded to slice it quickly and cleanly with just his blade. What would have taken a meat-slicing machine ten minutes only took Leomon three. 'With the meat sliced, I can take this back to the kitchen to be cooked and then prepped for the bento specials.' He carefully used his large knife to push the small chunks of meat into a clean bucket before walking over to a large sink to rinse off the blade.

It was strange how he had found an affinity for cooking but he often drew in customers who wanted to taste Digimon cuisine (actually, there wasn't any such thing from the Digital World that he recalled) and to try out his trademark steak dish that he accidentally invented when he fired a small Fist of the Beast King attack in frustration at some stubborn meat four years earlier.

He entered the restaurant's back entrance to hear her father shout. "Jeri! We need some dumpling appetizers for Table Fourteen!"

"I'm on it!" The young woman poured some vegetable oil into a frying pan and turned on the heat. Dressed in a chef's uniform with her hair tied tightly into a bun, she hummed to herself as she took some raw gyoza dumplings that had been prepared this morning and carefully dropped them into the pan to be fried.

Her life had changed since she was able to do a good amount of reflecting after the chaotic time when she, Alice, Kenta, Kazu and Beelzemon had to defend the city. When she remembered the other Jeri, she felt disturbed and saw what could happen if she continued to use the false mask which hid her pain. The moment she came home, she spent a lot of time talking to her family and sought out some additional aid from professional doctors.

Thanks to the support of her family and Leomon, she had been able to come to terms with her personal trauma. There is a better understanding between her and her stepmother. Her personality is very open and trusting and because of that, Leomon, her father and her young brother often keep an eye on all of Jeri's associates to see who may take advantage of her trust. "Dammit! Where's that tempura?" shouted Mr. Katou again.

"It's coming!" The vegetables were bathed in some batter before being dropped in the deep fryer. Jeri quickly walked to the sink to rinse her hands when she saw a little visitor drop in. "Calumon!"

Outside the restaurant, Beelzemon was about to drive off when he noticed someone familiar approaching him. "Hello, Beelzemon. It's been some time."

The demon lord looked over to his right to see a woman in a ponytail and a professional business outfit. "I remember you. You're that lady who asked me to save that guy ten years ago…"

(flashback)

"Make way for the Giant Green Taxi!" bellowed Megagargomon while he descended with several people secured in his hands. He landed on his legs and knelt down so that the passengers could disembark safely and make their way to the large crowd who were watching everything.

"I think that's everyone!" exclaimed Justimon after landing on Megagargomon's shoulder.

"Wait! Did you see Yamaki?" asked Riley as she made her way towards the Digimon.

Justimon leapt down from the shoulder of the large vaccine Digimon. "Who is this Yamaki?"

"Mitsuo Yamaki. Blonde hair, sunglasses, sharp business suit and no sense of humour. I was wondering if you were able to see him escape. If you didn't… then can you see if he's still in the building and get him out of there?" asked the woman.

"Do we have enough time for another sweep? The building's looking pretty unstable," murmured Justimon as he looked back.

"I'll get on it. Where is he most likely to be?" Justimon wondered where Beelzemon came from but it seemed that he heard the woman's request to save Yamaki.

"He said he was going to check to see if everyone else has evacuated safely. It's been about twenty minutes so right now, he would be at the fifteenth floor," replied Riley. Beelzemon nodded before spreading out his wings and taking flight.

'Thirteenth… fourteenth… there it is!' The demon lord noticed a small figure sitting at a desk near the window. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the figure matched the woman's description perfectly. He made his way toward a window that connects to the next office. It probably would be best if he didn't startle the human. As soon as he punched the glass and got through, he exited the office and saw the door to the office being occupied was open. When he stepped through, he saw the human sitting at the desk with a bottle of whiskey and a glass. "Yamaki, I presume?"

The man looked up and then snorted. "Someone up there must be laughing their ass off if my messenger to the afterlife is a Digimon." His speech was slightly slurred but he was still aware of his surroundings.

"I ain't no messenger, buddy. I'm getting you outta here."

Another glass of alcohol was poured. "Why would you want to save someone who has tried to get rid of all Digimon over the past several months?" He downed the contents in one gulp and exhaled.

"Not sure really. I guess the thought that I could have done something but decided to sit on my ass and leave the sucker to his doom doesn't sit too well with me." Beelzemon walked over and yanked Yamaki out of his chair. The bottle of whiskey fell to the floor with the alcohol staining the carpet.

"Dammit! Let go! Can't you just let me die with some dignity?" Yamaki managed to get Beelzemon to let go of his arm.

The demon lord frowned. "You really wanna die that badly?"

"The point of the matter is that in my failure to complete my goal, I have lost face. The world is on the brink of change and whether I like it or not, Digimon are the future! Because I can't accept that change… I have to die along with the project that I had feverishly worked on. I don't have anything left to focus my life on."

"Yamaki…" As soon as the man heard his name, he felt a painful blow in his stomach as Beelzemon punched him. "That is the biggest load of bull I ever heard. What I hate are people who still have lives to live but don't make any effort to live them. And you are falling dangerously close to that category. As for a new focus, I can think of at least two things. First, there's that lady who wanted someone to rescue ya."

Yamaki's thoughts drifted to the only person who would possibly ask that. 'Riley…'

"And if that ain't enough…" Beelzemon plunged his hand into Yamaki's pants and stretched the back on his briefs over the man's head. "You can focus your life on getting revenge for me pulling that wedgie on ya! And then of course, the subsequent humiliation when I drop you off in front of your people." The demon lord picked up the man and tossed him over his shoulder.

"You bastard! I'll see you rot in hell for this!" As Yamaki continued to curse, Beelzemon simply grinned like an idiot, knowing that by acting like an ass, he fired up the man's will to live.

(end flashback)

"So how has he been? Is he still dedicated to getting a position with the government liaison group to us?" asked the demon lord.

Riley sighed. "That's quite an understatement. He's really putting a lot of energy into trying to set up something that would strictly monitor your activities and develop a few anti-Digimon weapons that a human can use in case you guys go rogue. But the higher ups keep saying that he should keep a clear distance away from government matters regarding Digimon. In fact, they think his dedication to the work he's been doing is quite unhealthy."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The woman smiled gently. "Because I'm grateful for the dramatic measures you took to bring him back to life… even though it's quite unorthodox."

**0000000000**

_"On my pride as a Holy Knight…" The virus Digimon slowly got up, bearing the pain from the damaged inflicted on him before. "…if you ever hurt my friends…" His torn red cape flapped in the wind and his body armour had several cracks all over the place. "…I will kill you!" _

_"Oh?" Shadowgallantmon paused when a red aura flared from his counterpart and he saw the knight's golden eyes harden. 'Is he tapping into the power of the Hazard?' He blinked in shock when he saw Gallantmon vanish. 'Where is he?' He felt a shift in the wind above him and saw the holy knight armed with his shield and ready to strike._

_The dark knight swung with his own lance but Gallantmon moved his body to the left to dodge the attack. He dashed forward, intending to give a harsh body check with the right part of his body but his counterpart had beat him to the ideal position and his shield glowed with power. "This is my resolve! FINAL ELYSIAN!"_

Takato Matsuki looked up from the story that had been handed to him by his friend and co-worker, Hirokazu Shiota. "Not that this isn't cool or anything but…"

"What do you think? Your original adventures when you guys had the Digidestined in town are practically screaming out to be filmed as a recreation! You know… one of those films based on a true story? I really maxed out the drama and tension and it totally sounds better than the original story that you told me a while back! Once I finish the last bit, I'll send it to our publisher and he'll probably want you to draw a manga based on this! And then maybe we can start talking to film producers and distributors!"

Takato protested weakly. "But… we're already swamped with work on the Digimon Chronicle story! Not to mention that I need to meet up with the animation staff to go over the plans to produce Frontier as an anime and then there's the re-launching of the Digimon V-Tamer manga!" He was about to put Kazu's script on his desk but seeing how cluttered it was already with pages and pages of his drawings all over the place, he opted just to keep it in his lap.

Kazu adjusted his blue Digimon cap. "When you think of it, maybe we took on a wee bit too much. But then again, this stuff is nothing like the old days when I defended the city with Alice and the others." He glanced down at the tiny scar on his right thumb that he got from a battle against a visitor simply known as Death-X-Mon.

"How is Alice by the way?" Takato gave back the script and attempted to organize his drawings by series that he was working on. 'This one's for V-Tamer and this one is for Digimon Chronicle. And here's the Frontier concept art that got sent to me yesterday. I was wondering where I put this!'

"She's swamped with work on her end but then again, she is trying to set up an American Branch of the Digimon Tamers Federation. Hopefully, she won't be as brutal as Rika with combat drills and that stuff." Kazu walked over to the mini-fridge set up in Takato's office and grabbed a cold drink from inside.

"Rika's not that bad! And where's Kenta?"

"As her boyfriend, your opinion doesn't count." Kazu took a swig and briefly remembered how the two drifted apart for a few years after the Juggernaut/D-Reaper clash before finally straightening things out after the DTF was established five years back. "As for Kenta, he's getting some stuff so we can pull another big night to get the Digimon Chronicle chapter done."

Following the Juggernaut/D-Reaper clash, the trio of friends repaired their friendship and started a little fun project on the side while in junior high school. Kazu and Kenta worked out story details and created new concepts based on the Ancient Digimon cards. The product was their first doujinshi manga called Digimon Frontier. Takato drew the story out while Kazu let his imagination run wild to come up with the story. Kenta coordinated the efforts of his friends and edited the final work so that picture and dialogue would fit together. They finished the Frontier project just as they graduated from high school and while thinking of future plans, the trio were contacted by a manga publisher who wanted the trio to draw up some new Digimon stories when Digimon were being more accepted in the mainstream media.

A knock on the door broke the brief silence as Kenta, Guardromon, MarineAngemon, Guilmon and Terriermon entered the office, carrying snacks to munch on and takeout food for supper. "We're back!" exclaimed Guardromon. The group dropped the bags of food on a small table near a black leather couch with a television and a video game system.

Takato grinned. "That's good to hear. Guilmon, don't eat all the food, okay?"

"I hear ya, Takato. Let's play some games until they are ready to eat dinner." Takato would never admit it but he felt a bit bothered by Guilmon's change in attitude and the reason for that as Terriermon pointed out accidentally in another conversation was because of Guilmon's mindset evolving from that of a child to a teenager. At least he would have experience when it comes to handling his teenage kids with Rika… if they ever went that far.

**00000000000**

The time was about 5:45 PM and the administrative office of the DTF still remained busy tracking Digimon activities in the human world and the Digital World. It's practically a 24 hour operation since nobody knows when a Digimon could create a digital field and bio-emerge.

The Digimon Tamers Federation worked similarly to the FBI in the United States. They operated under their own rules but they were funded by the government. To encourage anyone who is a Tamer to step forward and take on a role as a defender of Japan, the Federation offered to pay Tamers in Yen. Currently, the Japanese Branch of DTF has about 130 Field Agents, half of which are still in elementary school and junior high. Tamers who previously acted as Field Agents but had to scale back because of other commitments would be labelled as reserves.

There is still quite a bit of debate surrounding the DTF with questions on why should children be the ones risking their lives. And parents have to live with the possibility that their child could become a Tamer. For public safety interests, the government passed a few new laws regarding Digimon. Any Digimon that is found in the real world without a Tamer would have to go back to the Digital World. Anyone who is a Tamer but has no wish to be part of the Federation still needs to register themselves with the government for precautionary purposes. And technically, if the media wants information on Digimon, they should contact the DTF Staff, there are some unscrupulous journalists and photographers who attempt to go after the Tamers themselves and their families for information.

Since Digimon are sentient beings, there is a large amount of discussion as to whether they can have the same rights, privileges and freedoms as a human. Religious groups and fanatics have continually voiced their thoughts about how Digimon will be the end of humanity while other groups have fought to shed positive light on the phenomenon. It's been a long debate and with what Rika had found out, the debate could take an interesting turn.

The young woman was dressed in a sharp military uniform with a special badge on to represent her rank (which was pretty much at the top) and affiliation with the DTF. Her cards were attached to her belt. "Well… this is an interesting development. How long have you had your partner?" She scanned the small Digimon in front of her with her D-Ark. The Digimon looked like a dull yellow dog with red ears, red markings on his cheeks and a bushy red tail that looks like it should belong on a Vulpix. 'Labramon. Animal Digimon. Rookie level. Vaccine type. Special moves are Cure Liquor and Retrieving."

"I've had him since I was ten, madam," replied the Digimon's tamer, who was a thirteen year old girl dressed in a private school uniform and sitting in the chair provided to her. She nervously played with the D-Ark in her hands which had a purple and yellow rim.

She clipped her D-Ark back to her belt. "And why did you decide to reveal yourself just now?"

"I was scared at first how my parents would react to all this and how the people would react when they found out that I had a Digimon. Then I realized that we are on the brink of a new era with Digimon and if our people are to realize that our lives are intertwined with the Digimon, I have to step forward and reveal Labramon to everyone."

Rika smiled at the girl's courage. "That's very courageous of you, Aiko-hime. Let's get you set up in our database." As she shifted her seat to her computer to begin working on an ID for the latest Tamer to join their ranks, she idly pondered how the public would react when they found out that Princess Aiko, the current member of the Imperial Family reigning on the Chrysanthemum Throne, is a Digimon Tamer.

"Um… madam? I was just wondering about something. Nobody really understood what happened on that night ten years ago. As one of the first Tamers, were you able to make sense of those events?" asked Aiko meekly.

Rika continued to type on her keyboard as she replied to the question. "Well, the Juggernaut program and the D-Reaper program were trying to delete each other and they pretty much succeeded but they left a big mess to clean up behind. Takato and I, in our final ascended forms, pretty much cleaned up that mess by sealing up whatever rifts were left and sending unwanted visitors back to where they came from. Then a special program was run to ensure that the rifts would never happen again and our higher forms were sealed."

The version she told Aiko was partially watered down to avoid talking about Amaterasu. The Sun Goddess was the one who ran the program to repair the barriers of reality and she sealed their higher powers, leaving them with the power to bio-merge into four different forms and to quantum bio-merge into all four forms for a short while.

"Okay… you're just about set. And…" A beeping noise came from the machine and the woman frowned slightly. "Hold on a second." She pulled up another program which linked communications between the real world and the Digital World. "Nonaka here."

_"Rika, the assignment you gave me is just plain ridiculous."_

She grinned mentally while she kept a straight face and a business-like tone. "What do you mean, Ryo? I gave you what you wanted. You came to me asking for a different assignment since you felt restless. What more do you want?"

_"Do you have any idea how long it will take to travel the entire Digital World and map it?"_

"Not really. I would love to send something to help you along but unfortunately, our R&D team hasn't come up with something yet. Now if you will excuse me, I have other business to conduct. Good day." Rika cut off the connection and went back to work. She had to admit that she loved her job. She dealt with Digimon all the time, she didn't have to wear a dress to work and she got to boss around Ryo Akiyama. Life is good.

And life went on normally. Or as normally as you can get for Digimon Tamers. But overall, it looked like things were going to remain quite stable for a while.

**0000000000**

**0000000000**

**0000000000**

**0000000000**

**0000000000**

**"YOU'RE PROPOSING TO ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A FREAKING COMBAT DRILL! ARE YOU NUTS, GOGGLEHEAD?"**

To be concluded…

Adventures Module and V-Tamer Module will be coming soon. I swear!


	41. Finale VTamers Module

Author's Notes: Here's the second module. Sorry for the lateness of its arrival.

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away.

Ascension – V 4.0 (V-Tamers Module)

A shrill sound rang in the air as an alarm clock went off at around seven in the morning, signalling the start of a new day. It continued to beep loudly until the bed's occupant sat up and raised a hand to slam the button to shut off the clock. He yawned and stretched before getting his clothes for the day. 'I hate morning exams…' He dragged himself into the bathroom for a morning shower to clear his senses.

He emerged ten minutes later, refreshed and dressed for the day. He wore a white t-shirt, a blue vest, a pair of jeans and socks. His brown hair had been dried and gelled to the old hairstyle that he had as a kid and a pair of goggles rested on top of his head. He tossed his pyjamas into the laundry basket before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. His parents and his younger sister were already diving into their morning meal. "Hi, mom. Dad. Squirt."

"Stop calling me squirt!" fumed Hikari Yagami. Her older brother simply grinned before grabbing some toast from the toaster.

"Nah. Too much fun. I gotta get going. See ya tonight!" Taichi grabbed his backpack with the things he'll need for the day and left the family home. He walked down the familiar route to get to the subway. It would be a brief trip to get to his exam location and he could use the extra time to revise some of the exam material he has to cover.

When he boarded his usual train and found himself squeezed inside the crowd, he saw a familiar face that he had known for the past ten and a half years sitting down on a train seat. "Hey, Hideto!"

The young Japanese man looked up and noticed his friend's large hairdo sticking out of the morning subway crowd. There were mutterings of 'excuse me' and 'pardon me' as Taichi slowly made his way to where he was sitting. "You got morning exams too?"

"That's right. It's Advanced English and I often wonder why I picked this course when I could have probably gotten something easier."

Hideto Fujimoto simply smiled. "Because you had plans to head to North America and make easy money by translating anime, manga and other Japanese media there?"

"Maybe I should have picked out a physical program so I could become a professional football player." Taichi paused as the train stopped to pick up even more passengers. Outside, he could see attendants struggling to push passengers inside the subway car.

"Since when were you interested in that sport with the tackling, the running and the carrying of that odd shaped ball like on _Eyeshield 21_?" The train chime rang thrice and eventually, the subway train was allowed to depart the station.

Taichi snorted. "Not that one! I'm talking about the real football which some countries call soccer for some reason. To be honest, I don't get how they can call their sport over there football when the feet don't do that much except for a few minor kicks and running. At least with the real football, players have to use their feet to control the ball and score goals!"

Hideto nodded. "I see. When do you finish up your exam?"

"I'll wrap up by around lunch time. That's more than enough time before our little gathering this afternoon. To be honest, I shouldn't have been invited at all. Not after what I did." A look of guilt appeared on Taichi's face.

"How many times do we have to tell you that it wasn't your fault? Neo… he…" Hideto trailed off, feeling uncomfortable about the subject.

"I know. But I still feel a bit guilty over how I couldn't have done something more for him, you know?" Taichi noticed the subway train slowing down and saw the familiar signs of his stop. "Here's my stop. I'll see ya later, man."

As Taichi squeezed himself through the crowded subway car and braced himself for moving through the crowd on the subway platform, he thought to himself that it was times like these that he wished he didn't have to commute. But tuition is pricey and being able to live at home gave some relief to his family's financial status. He gave a sigh of relief when he got on to the streets near his school.

When he sat down at the library to do his review, his thoughts kept drifting back to how things had progressed since he came back from his big dimensional adventure where he had teamed up with other kids to stop two powerful Digimon. His initial meeting with Hideto and Mari had been a bit rough since they jumped to a bit of a conclusion when they saw a comatose Neo leaning against him. If it hadn't been for Sigma's level head, there would have been a meaningless battle. It took time for the trio known as Alias III to know Taichi but once they did, they were able to feel at ease around him.

As for Neo, he and his sister Rei woke up at roughly the same time approximately a year and a half after Taichi returned to his own dimension. Neo seemed to be fit, both mentally and physically since he treated Hideto as his friend again and even apologized for his nasty behaviour towards him and Taichi back in the past. Rei was glad to see her brother had started to mend the friendships that he had broken. Then five years ago… the incident happened.

Taichi shook his head and mentally told himself to focus on his studies instead. It wouldn't do any good to waste his last minute review time on those memories. After half an hour had passed, he packed up his things and left the library to get to his exam room which is a large lecture hall. Several other students were also taking their seats, along with Taichi's good school friend of three years (with their relationship status recently upgraded to a little more than friendship) Sora Takenouchi. She briefly waved at him before taking her own seat.

'Okay… you can do this!' Taichi placed his backpack on to the side wall of the room and took only his pencil case which had his pens, pencils and erasers. He sat down in a seat which had a test booklet. Once the invigilator announced the beginning of the exam, Taichi opened the booklet, read the first question and proceeded to mentally panic when he realized that he's not 100 sure about what the first passage said.

When the invigilator called for the end of the exam three hours later, Taichi was still scrambling to scribble down some more answers. The invigilator had collected all the other papers and was waiting for him to finish up. "Today, Mr. Yagami…"

'So Alex is the noun here… and nagged would be the verb! I think…' He scribbled the last bit of kanji to correspond with the last English sentence that he had to translate. He then handed the paper over to the invigilator and gave a huge sigh. "That exam was plain brutal…" He collected his things and just as he exited the room, he noticed his girlfriend waiting for him.

"So how did you do? I think I did well for the sentence translations." Sora carried a backpack on her shoulders and an extra bag for athletics in her hand. She was dressed in a sleeveless yellow top and a pair of shorts made of denim. Considering how she was involved in athletics, she wore sneakers for obvious reasons.

The pair walked out of the examination building and outside to campus grounds. "I think I bombed the first section. The rest of it was stuff that I had to carefully read over before answering. In any case, I'll have to wait and see when the results get posted."

She briefly nodded. "I see. Well, I got soccer practice in an hour and a half…"

"You know, I had a talk about that this morning on the subway with a friend of mine. Technically, it's football! And don't bring up that stuff about _Eyeshield 21_!" retorted the young man.

Sora blinked in surprise. "Uh… yeah. In any case, you want to come with me for lunch?"

"That sounds nice. Where do you want to go?"

**0000000000**

It was about two in the afternoon when Taichi arrived at the gateway in front of a mansion, which was located in one of the wealthier neighbourhoods of Tokyo. The building itself had two storeys with grey bricks. Two vehicles and a motorcycle were parked on the driveway. The young man stepped up to the intercom and spoke. "Are you there, Siegfried? It's me."

The gateway opened up to allow Taichi to enter. Before he stepped on to the property, he saw a wheelchair ramp specifically set up for Rei (and other wheelchair bound visitors to the household) to use right beside the small set of stairs that lead up to the front door. He made his way towards it and just as he stepped in front of the door, it opened for him. A young man (who was slightly shorter than Taichi) with brown eyes and brown hair greeted Taichi warmly. "Glad you made it." (AN: The appearance here should be Kenny from Beyblade but without the glasses. Source is from V-Tamer profiles located at 'Digital Starlight')

"Good to see you're in good health, Siegfried." After letting Taichi inside the home, he led him downstairs to the furnished basement where Hideto, Mari and Rei were quietly having a conversation near the home theatre system. About four feet in the opposite direction of the system was a desk that had a computer resting upon it. Mari's blonde hair was tied back in a single ponytail and she wore a dark skirt with a white summer dress shirt, which was far more modest than what she had been wearing when Taichi met her the first time. The trio greeted Taichi warmly.

The wheelchair bound Rei was dressed in an athlete's uniform with a logo specifically identifying her as part of Japan's Paralympics team. She had made a strong debut at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning a bronze medal, a silver medal and a gold medal in track and field events. "It's almost time to go visit some friends of yours."

Siegfried nodded. "I can hardly wait to see my partner Piedmon again. I hope he's been doing well."

Just as he finished that last statement, the LCD monitor of his computer started to glow. "There's our ride. Let's go!" said Mari.

Before Taichi knew it, he and his companions were in the continent of Folder where it all started for him. He glanced around to see that Siegfried's hair had changed colour from brown to grey and it was in its ponytail style which was the same style that he had seen when they first met. The white mask with black eyeholes, a black vertical streak only a few centimetres thick covering the left part of the mask (and subsequently part of the left eyehole) and the tiny Greek letter Sigma on top had also appeared on his face. Mari's blonde hair was now in pigtails and Rei had full use of her legs again. 'Do I have the right to even be here?' Taichi could still see certain parts of the landscape scarred from the incident.

Rei noticed Taichi's distress and tapped his right arm to get his attention. "I'll race you to the shrine. Last one there's a rotten Digi-egg!"

That temporarily snapped him out of his daze. "I'm no rotten Digi-egg! Hey… no fair! You got a head start!" He started to run after Rei, forgetting his problems for the time being.

"They're so childish…" murmured Sigma.

"And I wouldn't have them any other way." Hideto's Digivice began to beep, indicating that his partner Digimon were getting closer. A few seconds later, Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon flew in and landed by the trio. "It's good to see you two are healthy. You mind giving us a lift to Lord MagnaAngemon's shrine?"

"No problem!" Wargreymon lifted Sigma on to his right shoulder while Mari and Hideto hopped on Metalgarurumon. Needless to say, Taichi ended up as the last to arrive at the shrine (and partially out of breath).

The reception towards the humans was warm with Lord MagnaAngemon treating them as special guests who had helped them in times of crisis in the past. Gabo had a new job being an administrative assistant for the guardian of Folder. Leomon and Shogungekomon had higher responsibilities now and were unable to meet the humans (which may be a good thing since they still aren't too sociable around humans).

As Taichi chatted to Zero about his school experiences and his new relationship with Sora, Zero found himself wishing that he could speak with his Tamer like this more often. But for security purposes and the fact that the human world isn't ready to learn that the Digital World is indeed real, Lord MagnaAngemon could only allow the humans to visit their world twice a year (once around New Year's Day and once in the summer such as today). It has been like this ever since Taichi and the Alias III group left the Digital World and their partners behind for the first time. There had been one disruption that caused the group not to visit the Digital World for an entire year and that disruption occurred around five years ago.

(The flashback that you've probably been waiting for)

"I seriously don't know how you talked me into this. I thought I already gave good arguments about why I shouldn't visit the Digital World!" protested Neo. It should have been simple for him to say no, just like he did when he said no for all the other invites to the Digital World. Actually, at those times, he had a semi-decent excuse to be absent but not this time.

"First off, during your time in the Digital World, your interactions with the normal Digimon population were kept to a minimum with you committing your time to your project. So when they see you, they'll only see a normal human and nothing more. Just in case, you should just stay with us," said Taichi in a simple tone.

"And the fact that you don't feel that you should be in the Digital World? Well, everyone deserves another chance. With how you've changed when I first reunited with you back in the other Digital World, you certainly earned your chance!" exclaimed Rei who briefly adjusted her pendant since some of her sweat had smeared on the chain that was attached to it. It was a special pendant that had been with her since she first landed in the Digital World and was very special to her.

An idea came to Neo's head. "But shouldn't we be studying for university entrance exams or something?"

Mari rolled her eyes. "You'll only be gone for one day. We still have enough time to study for those exams so just chill already!"

Before he could protest further, the portal from Lord MagnaAngemon arrived and in the blink of an eye, he was in the Digital World in the continent of Folder with his clothes shifting to a pair of long white pants, a blue scarf, a white t-shirt with black sleeves which had the peace logo on it and white rags wrapped around his exposed arms. Within moments, Zero and the partner Digimon of the Alias III joined up with their Tamers, ready to go off for a fun day out with friends. "Let's go have some fun, guys!" shouted Hideto enthusiastically.

**0000000000**

Two hours later, Taichi started to grumble. "Damn! Where did he disappear to? Neo!" Org (Wargreymon) and Meruuga (Metalgarurumon) had found a forest on near the continent's border some time back and suggested that the group spend the day just enjoying the wilderness. That seemed to be a good idea until Neo went missing about an hour ago.

The group had split up to search for their missing friend. Taichi and Zero headed to the northern end of the forest; Mari and Rosemon explored east; Hideto and Org searched south while Sigma and Piedmon looked west. Rei and Meruuga went their own direction with the girl counting on the mechanical wolf Digimon's sense of smell to find her brother. Her bet on Metalgarurumon paid off as they found Neo slumped against a tree stump, breathing heavily. "Neo!" Rei ran up to him to check if he was injured but there didn't seem to be anything.

He glanced up briefly to see his concerned sister. "Rei…"

"Are you okay? What happened?" asked the girl frantically.

"It's… nothing serious. I just needed to get away from Taichi for a while."

His response confused her and Meruuga. "What do you mean?" asked the Digimon.

"It's nothing… I'm just weak. That's all." He took a breath before beginning to explain. "The year we spent together with you trying to help me release my hatred and the other Neo. It wasn't totally effective. Although my hatred towards Hideto has diminished, I can still feel some hatred for Taichi gnawing away at me day after day. I honestly thought I can deal with it. After all, I went about three and a half years dealing with it but it's starting to get to me. As I said, I'm weak."

"You're not weak, brother! Being able to admit all of that took some courage!" exclaimed Rei.

A sad smile graced the boy's lips. "Heh… I don't suppose you'll be able to help me, will you? I want to let go of the hatred and be a really good friend to Hideto, Mari and Sigma. And I really want to be the best big brother for you."

The girl could feel a surge of emotion in her heart but she kept her composure. "You already are. I'll do what I can to help you! What do you need?"

"Can I just hold your pendant for a moment? Maybe it'll calm me down some." His request seemed to be reasonable. Rei took off the pendant and placed it in her brother's outstretched palm. "Thank you." He clutched it briefly and exhaled. "Rei?"

"Yes, brother?"

"Would you mind standing back for a moment?" Partially frightened by her brother's odd tone, she did what he asked of her. Neo then held the pendant in both of his hands and concentrated. Rei gasped as her pendant glowed strangely and hovered right in front of Neo. He brought both of his Digivices together and pointed them towards the pendant. The Digivices fired a stream of data towards the pendant and before Rei knew it, Neo was enveloped by a sphere composed entirely of black data.

"Rei, get back!" shouted Meruuga in alarm.

The black data sphere grew larger and solidified into black fur. On top of the black fur ball, a greyish torso formed along with a pair of large gauntlets for arms. There was a bit of black fur at the end of each gauntlet. On the side of each gauntlet was a large black shaped diamond with a yellow eye embedded in it. A small head was the last to appear on top of the torso. The newly formed Digimon looked down upon Rei and Meruuga. "I'm going to go release my hatred, Rei. I'll be back. Wolf… if anything happens to her, you're scrap." The Digimon's voice sounded a lot like Neo's voice except with there was a bit of an echo… like there was another presence in the voice.

"N-Neo?" Before Rei could try and make sense of what happened, the new Digimon flew off, in pursuit of one thing only: The 100 Percent Combination.

**0000000000**

One hour later, Alforceveedramon made a barrel roll to the right in the air to avoid another deadly strike from his opponent. When they first encountered the new Digimon, they were shocked to see that it was ArcaDemon (in a newly evolved form) that they were facing. What was worse was that Neo was a part of ArcaDemon in this form just like Taichi was a part of Zero when he became Alforceveedramon. "Neo, stop this madness! We can help you!"

"Dystopia Lances!" Multiple red energy projectiles were shot out of ArcaDemon and formed into lances before converging on Zero. The holy knight Digimon deflected as many as he could with the energy blades on his gauntlets but those lances seriously HURT. A lance tore through the left wing and caused Zero to roar in pain.

"We can't fall back further. Otherwise, we could endanger Lord MagnaAngemon's shrine and the Digimon residing there!" Taichi knew that Zero was right and growled in frustration.

As Zero landed to try and catch his breath, ArcaDemon hovered a few feet in front of him. "I told you before. My hatred of you has continued to gnaw at me and the only way to move on is to either kill you with my own hands in a duel with Digimon or die in the process! You may have thought that I overcame it earlier. I thought I did too. Apparently, we were both wrong. When you killed ArcaDemon years back, some of the leftover data was absorbed by my hatred. When we banished Daemon, the overall hatred I felt in my body had been partially relieved and so it lay dormant until six months ago. I'm not sure why it never manifested before but thanks to the leftover data and the power of my sister's pendant… my partner Digimon came back to me and now we will finish what we started: the quest to crush the 100 Percent Combination."

"Dammit, Neo! Can't you see you're hurting Rei by taking this course of action?" shouted Taichi using Zero's voice.

"I know that. But I also know that if she knew of my silent suffering, she would be hurt even more because of the fact that she can't help me and that her previous help never bore any fruit. I couldn't do that to her so I chose the lesser of the two evils," droned ArcaDemon.

Zero snorted. "If you kill me, will you truly be able to move on? I don't think so. The hatred will rise again and then you'll claim the lives of Hideto and his Digimon. Then maybe it'll be Sigma and Piedmon or Mari and Rosemon. You have to break the cycle of hatred!"

"I will. After I kill you, I can live again." ArcaDemon raised his right gauntlet. "God Matrix!"

Before Zero could react, an energy cage had been formed to trap them to the ground. "Alforce Saber!" No effect in dispersing the cage. "Shining Vee Force!" No effect as well.

"Now it ends…" With a gesture, ArcaDemon activated the cage's unique ability and began to send high amounts of electricity through Zero's body.

"**AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!"**

"Neo! Taichi!" ArcaDemon turned to see the Alias III, their Digimon and Rei finally catch up to the duelling Tamers.

"Keep Rei out of this! If she gets hurt, I'll have your heads!" roared Neo at the other Tamers.

"Brother, stop this! I beg of you!" cried Rei.

"This is a meaningless battle! Cease your assault, Neo!" exclaimed Sigma. He hoped that his words could reach his friend since in his present state, his power levels are way out of their league.

"This is a battle for my pride and is far from a meaningless battle, Sigma! I have to regain my self-pride and release my hatred before I can live on with my life!"

Mari looked at Neo in disbelief. "Are you still ticked off because he tied you at that tournament years back? Get over it already!"

ArcaDemon made a wild gesture. "The tournament means nothing! His continued victories over me has injured my pride as a Digimon Tamer and I will restore it!"

Rei felt a sense of numbness as the thought of nobody being able to reach Neo flooded her mind. 'I was only able to do so much but it wasn't enough! And I don't know if Sigma, Mari or Hideto can help! But what about Taichi?' She hopped off of Meruuga's back and shouted a message to Zero. "Taichi! I believe that you can help Neo! I believe in you! If you have to beat some sense into his thick skull, then go for it!"

Her words triggered a response from Zero as he felt a new surge of power rise within him. "Alforceveedramon mode change to… FUTURE MODE!" A pair of new shoulder spikes appeared on both pieces of shoulder armour but overall, he had changed very little. He could still feel the pain from God Matrix but it wasn't as severe as before. "Alforce Vee Saber!" His strengthened energy blades shattered the cage that ArcaDemon had set up for him.

Neo felt a new fury rise within his body. "Dystopia Lances!"

As the energy projectiles took form, Zero used a new technique. "Tense Great Shield!" A protective barrier surrounded his body and caused many projectiles to deflect and cancel each other out. However one projectile got deflected and headed on a course towards Rei.

Neo gasped, realizing that at the projectile's speed, there wouldn't be enough time for Meruuga to grab Rei and jump away to safety. Without thinking twice, he propelled himself forward and blocked the lance with his own body. As the commotion died down, Taichi started to stumble on his words. "I never wanted… I never knew that…"

As the Bewitching Beast Digimon's body landed on the ground and began to dissolve into data particles, Neo whispered his last words. "Rei… I love you…"

"**NEO!.!.!.!.!.!"**

(End of the action packed flashback)

It had taken months for them to come to terms with their grief and pain. Taichi and Rei took it the hardest with the both of them placing a large share of guilt on themselves. Rei buried herself in school and wheelchair athletics while Taichi did the same but focused his energy on soccer activities. The Christmas season for that particular year had been highly emotional with both of them letting all the pain out of their hearts and the Alias III trio helping them with their grief. Only when the spring came did they have some semblance of their previous selves before the incident.

**0000000000**

"Hi, brother. I'm training hard for the upcoming Paralympics games in 2016. It's hard work but a lot of fun. I'm sure you're proud of me and I'll continue to do my best." Rei placed a bouquet of flowers that had been provided to her from Lord MagnaAngemon's garden. The group stood in front of a simple memorial (with a small tombstone attached to the ground) to Neo Saiba that had been erected four years ago when they came to terms with their pain. Today was only their second trip to the memorial (with Taichi skipping the first one two years ago since he still felt guilty at that time).

Mari stepped forward next. "With Rei working hard as a Paralympics bound athlete, I've started helping her a few months ago. You don't have to worry because I've got her back!" She placed her own bouquet alongside Rei's.

Sigma stepped forward along with Hideto. "Rather than flowers, we thought it would have been more meaningful to bring along some additional memories that we found recently." An old school yearbook and a photo album were placed beside the flowers.

Taichi was the last to speak. "I'm not sure what I should be saying as the person who you swore that you would defeat. But I guess I should keep it simple. I hope that you were able to find peace on the other side." He took out a brand new electronic device that was used to compete in the Digimon Tamers convention and placed it on top of the photo album.

Lord MagnaAngemon looked up from his reading when he heard the shuffling of feet coming from Neo's memorial. "Taichi Yagami? I have a message for you from the Guardian. It seems that some friends of yours in the Southern Realm are getting married and they have extended an invitation for you and your partner to come to the wedding."

"Who's getting married?"

"The names are… Rika Nonaka and Takato Matsuki…" He paused when he heard Taichi gawk in surprise. "So… should I send a reply that you'll be coming or not?"

To be concluded…

One more module to go and then epilogue time. WHEE!


	42. Finale Adventures Module

Author's Notes: I'll save the notes for later when the official 'Ascension Completion' ceremony is conducted. The notes will also include explanations about 'Hard Gay' and 'Kancho' as you'll see later.

Disclaimer: I'm just writing this story purely for fun. If I do get contacted from the owners of Digimon telling me to take this down, I'll do so right away.

Ascension – V 4.0 (Adventures Module)

It was a fairly warm day as fans were packed in Kobe Wing Stadium to watch the Japanese football (known as soccer in North America) team square off against the Korean team in one of the final qualifying games for the upcoming 2014 World Cup. Some fans started shouting out negative comments at the Korean players, who obviously ignored them since they had no idea what the hell those crazy fans were saying. It seemed that there were still some ill feelings when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the event in 2002 and caused plenty of problems for both countries.

The victor of this game would be in the top three teams of the Asian zone and could seriously be a factor in determining whether a team makes it to the Final tournament which is to be hosted later in the year in Brazil. Needless to say, this is a big game. So when the clock hit 2:30 PM, half an hour before the game was to begin, the head coach for the Japanese team really hoped that his two star players would finish their business in the Digital World so they can get back in time for the game.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"To anyone Digidestined that is available: Currently have Imperialdramon Paladin Mode engaged in battle with some dude named Darkdramon. This guy is being a pain in the ass by continuing to be obsessed with finding some other dude named Bancho and will probably make me and Ken miss our big soccer game at this rate. We need assistance in putting this guy down right away! Angry face… send!"

After Davis added the angry emoticon to the end of the message, he sent it to everyone (at least the ones who had Digimon partners) listed in his address book. He tucked away his D-Terminal before glancing at his friend who was looking after an unconscious TK, Patamon, Kari and Gatomon. The group had taken shelter in a forest near the diner where they first met the Tamers. "How are they?"

"They were only knocked out by that sneak attack so they'll be fine. I'm just more worried about how to beat this guy. He seems to be able to blend in the background pretty quickly making it nearly impossible for Imperialdramon to land a blow! We need a Digimon that can track this guy down when he vanishes in the background," said Ken. He could make out Imperialdramon's large figure slowly hovering around the area as he tried to predict where Darkdramon would strike next.

Just as Imperialdramon hovered over a particular spot, the ground shimmered and a figure in blue cybernetic armour appeared out of nowhere. He leapt from below and raised his right arm to strike. The energy emissions coming from the parts on his back resembled the wings that Gallantmon had when he was in Crimson Mode. "Giga Stick Lance!" Imperialdramon raised his Omega Sword to block the attack. He used his other arm to get a good grip on Darkdramon's neck.

"Why are you doing all of this?" asked the Holy Knight Digimon.

Darkdramon gave a small twitch before placing his left hand on Imperialdramon's wrist. "I will find Bancho. If you get in my way, I will remove you from my path! Dark Roar!" An energy bullet made out of Dark Matter was released from his palm, slamming into the wrist of the other Digimon and forcing him to let go. As he fell, he adjusted his armour to the background and camouflaged himself again.

Imperialdramon shook off the tingling sensation from his left wrist. 'This is getting tiresome.' Before he could start another round of hide and seek, something exploded to his right and Darkdramon phased back into his vision. Some small wisps of smoke came from his damaged mechanical legs. He quickly got back up just as Imperialdramon descended to the ground. But his attention was not focused on the Holy Knight. It was focused on the other Digimon in front of him.

She was the size of a child and wore golden armour that covered her arms and her breasts, leaving parts of her upper torso bare. A large helmet (which had feathers on the sides and a pair of blue eyelike features) covered most of her head except for the mouth and part of the nose. Four blue braided strands of hair were able to swing freely from underneath the helmet. A pair of red spandex shorts and a white dress covered her lower body and a pair of red boots covered her feet. The small female also wielded a shield on her left arm while she lifted a large sword with her right hand with minimal effort.

The robotic mega Digimon briefly analyzed his opponent. "Minervamon… do you dare to interfere in my search for Bancho as well?"

"I don't particularly give a rat's ass about this Bancho but the fact that you're causing havoc around my partner's favourite diner in the Digital World doesn't sit too well with me." Her voice sounded like it belonged to a 12 year old girl. "I'll give you a chance to surrender and explain who this Bancho guy is. Maybe we can give you a hand. Is Bancho your human partner?"

"I do not need assistance in tracking Bancho. If you continue to interfere in my search, I will kill you. Even though you may be a mega level Digimon yourself, your power pales in comparison to mine," said Darkdramon without a beat.

"Wrong choice of words, buddy. Madness Merry-Go-Round!" Her hair strands shot forward and wrapped themselves around Darkdramon. Then she began to toss him around several times before letting him go and sending him flying off in another direction (more like Lower Earth Orbit in the Digital World).

"Millia Rage, eat your heart out!" murmured Davis under his breath. Imperialdramon simply felt dumbfounded as he thought about how a smaller Digimon like her had finished this so quickly. Ken had been brought out of his stupor when he heard the groans of TK, who was regaining consciousness.

A rustling noise was heard from behind Minervamon as a young Chinese boy wearing glasses, blue jeans and a black sweatshirt came out from behind and proceeded to collapse on the ground while catching his breath. "N-next time, don't… g-go running… off so quickly!"

The small Digimon looked behind her and lit up with joy. She attached herself to the young male in a manner similar to how Shampoo greets Ranma. "Isaac! Did you see me whoop that other guy?"

Isaac let out a long exhale before speaking. "Just that last bit where you sent him off. But considering that we wanted to prevent further incidents like the one TK and Kari reported earlier, maybe you should have just grounded him so that he couldn't go anywhere rather than send him flying halfway across the world."

A sheepish look made its way to her face. "Um… oopsie?"

"Don't act cute." Minervamon stuck out her tongue in a childish manner at her partner and let herself down.

TK blinked a few times as the dizziness started to wear off. "Yo, BJ! You alright?"

"I'm fine, Davis. Would you stop purposely mangling my name already?" The other young man grinned before checking the time on his D3.

"It's almost game time! Let's go, Ken!" Imperialdramon scooped up his two human partners and took off like a bullet to get to the portal to the human world.

TK watched them leave before noticing the other three members of their party recover themselves. The young woman groaned before noticing her companion. "TK?"

He smiled warmly. "Welcome back. I'm sorry things turned out like this. I wanted to give you a relaxing date in the Digital World to get your mind off of your work in the day care."

"There's no need to apologize." Kari then noticed Minervamon and Isaac. To be more precise, she noticed the type of attire that Minervamon wore. "Excuse me, young lady. Don't you look a bit young to be wearing that type of outfit?"

"I just saved the day and that's the first thing you ask me?" asked Minervamon in disbelief.

"If you go out in public like that in the real world, you'll be setting a bad example to children! They'll think that it's okay to dress up as provocatively as you are!" exclaimed the young woman.

Minervamon looked down at her own appearance. "I'm quite fond of this outfit, you know."

"She's going to be a while. Let's get some take out from Digitamamon's place!" whispered Patamon.

"I'm in as long as you've got enough to pay for all of us. I don't want to see a repeat of that incident when Veemon tried to skip out on the bill!" Gatomon shuddered at the memory of how brutal Digitamamon had been to her friend.

The trio quietly slipped away as Kari continued to lecture Minervamon on the standards of decency which had driven the female Digimon to hide herself behind her partner and whisper her question in a timid tone. "Am I really a bad example?"

Isaac sighed. "This is the worst…" He was quite aware of the other woman's reputation not only as one of the first people to be partnered up with a Digimon but as someone who worked tirelessly to create a safe and healthy environment for Japanese children to grow up in. Recently, she had forced the TV networks to drop a popular act known as 'Razor Ramon Hard Gay' and is working on a campaign for elementary schools about why 'Kancho' is not cool.

Come to think of it, if she had not been involved with Digimon at a young age, she would have been exposed to such things and her psychology would have accepted it as normal. After coming to the conclusion that her country is very fucked up, she often left an extra can of tuna for Gatomon as a way of thanking her (and Digimon in general) for protecting her from the strangeness that is 'Kancho' and 'Hard Gay'.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

It was a rather slow afternoon for Yolei Inoue and Hawkmon. Through sheer luck of the draw, they had to stay behind and watch the Ai-Mart while her entire family goes to watch the game between Japan and Korea. What stings her more is that Ken and Davis, two of her closest friends, are participating in the game and she can't be there in person to support them. At least, they made it on time. From the last message Davis sent, she had been worried that the disturbance in the Digital World would take up more time than they could afford to spare. But when she saw the cameras focus on Imperialdramon Paladin Mode dropping by the stadium to drop off two young men in soccer uniforms, her worries were replaced by amused thoughts about how Davis loves to make a larger than life entrance. Her TV screen zoomed in to focus on the goggle wearing goofball greeting his fans.

'Good thing you made it on time, Davis. Otherwise, I would have had to throttle you,' thought the young woman as she adjusted her glasses.

Hawkmon noticed the look on his partner's face as he continued placing the latest copies of _Connection_ (the magazine which focuses on new trends and culture changes brought on by Digimon and has increasing popularity now that Takeru Takashi is the chief editor) on the magazine rack. There she went again thinking about Ken… or was it Davis? He could never tell anymore. It's like she was interested in Ken one day and then would ramble on and on about Davis another day. The rookie Digimon seriously considered just locking her up with her two love interests so she could sort out what type of feelings she had for them and be done with it.

Maybe it had something to do with their careers that they planned to pursue after the fame and fortune of playing a high stakes soccer game for Japan wore off. Davis wanted to start his own ramen cart so he started to learn the ropes of running a business (even one as simple as a ramen cart). He may be a slacker sometimes but lately, he had been quite serious about where he wanted to go with his future. Ken's interests lay in police work, forensics and solving cases which was a far cry from the predictions that newspapers and networks made several years ago about what type of career that a genius of his calibre would pursue.

Yolei seemed to be content with actively helping out the family business. With the revelation of Hawkmon to the others, they didn't need to worry about shelling out money for a security system. For Hawkmon, working as night shift security was one of his ways that he contributes to the family.

The chime rang as a customer entered through the automatic doors. Yolei turned away from the TV and saw a familiar face. "Hey, Cody! How are things going for you?"

The young man grabbed two sandwiches along with a bottle of pop and headed to the checkout counter. "They're not too bad. I'm sorry I can't stay for long but I have to get to my law school entrance exam location in half an hour!" His hair looked a bit frazzled, not like the clean cut he had when he was a child.

"I see. Just take the stuff. I'll put it on your tab." Yolei took out a plastic bag and placed the items inside before handing it over to Cody.

"Thanks! Armadillomon will drop by a little later to clear it off. See you later!" He quickly bolted from the shop.

"Everybody is in such a rush these days," murmured Hawkmon as he watched the young man race off.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

It had been a long mission to fulfill but now that the goal was in sight, Agumon had no regrets on the amount of time he had spent on his task.

It took him a while to navigate through VenusFort, a recreation of an 18th-century Mediterranean town, and browse through all the jewellery shops and see which one of them had lasers that could etch an inscription. After narrowing down his store choices, he looked up his partner's criteria in what he had in mind for a good engagement ring worthy for Sora and the budget he had allotted for it. It took several trips back and forth but he finally found what he was looking for and he instructed the store owner to etch a simple inscription (which would be hard to see with the naked eye since it's so tiny). It would read 'To Sora, Love Tai' and have a small picture of the Crest of Courage.

'I did what you asked of me, Tai. Now the rest is up to you…' Tai had started resorting to some medication to help him sleep with his work as an ambassador for the Digital World in the United Nations and his relationship continuing to occupy his mind. He often would mutter about where would be a great place to pop the question and how to make the mood as romantic as possible before finally dozing off.

Ever since the infamous battle against Malomyotismon which exposed the existence of the Digital World to the rest of the world, Tai had been pouring a lot of energy in the talks with the representatives of other countries who have their own interests in the Digital World. Eventually, he had been able to convince them that the Digital World is a sovereign parallel world and should be treated as such. For the past several years, he acted as a bridge between the Sovereign of the Digital World which is Azulongmon and the rest of the world. His efforts yielded some results as several representatives already agreed to talk to their governments about creating new laws to govern relationships between the Digital World and their own nation.

On another front, Izzy had been leading a group of scientists on trying to build a large scale portal to the Digital World. Hopefully, Azulongmon will be willing to allow humans to settle in some areas of the Digital World and use some of its natural resources to benefit humanity in general. Of course, there will be administrative guidelines and strict rules but from the early drafts that had been shown to him by Gennai, they seem to be fair and reasonable.

'This should be good in boosting up Tai's spirit some.' He entered the Norstein shop and was surprised to see Gomamon there dropping off some money.

"This should cover for the courier charge to deliver the ring to Joe's apartment."

The young blonde man behind the counter nodded. "It should be there within a day or two. Ah… I have your order ready to be picked up, Agumon."

"Uh… thanks, Mr. Tohma. Gomamon, what are you doing here?" asked the small dinosaur as he carefully picked up the small box which contained the ring.

"Probably the same thing you're doing which is helping out our partner with his engagement ring shopping as he gets ready to pop the question," replied Gomamon with a small grin.

Agumon blinked in surprise. "Joe has a girlfriend? That's new."

"Well, only a handful of us know about their relationship. You probably never noticed because you spent so much time with a certain pink bird." The grin widened. "But I don't blame you. When you are with your special someone, time seems to fly."

A blush appeared on the small dinosaur's cheeks. "How about telling me who's the lucky girl?"

"Mimi Tachikawa. You probably didn't see that coming did you?" At that revelation, Agumon tossed his small arms in the air… along with the ring.

"She's going to marry Joe?" The shock wore off as Agumon noticed that he no longer had the ring. He remembered tossing it up in surprise and looked up just in time for the box to bounce off his large nose. "Ow!"

Gomamon chuckled a little before speaking again. "I still have to admit that when it comes to relationships, Joe seems to be more courageous than Tai. No offence to your partner or anything but that's just what I have observed. I mean… even though Joe's a full time doctor working in a clinic, he already figured out how he wants to have his proposal go down."

Agumon picked up the ring and placed it in a small carrying bag he brought along for the occasion. "That is pretty planned out. How is Mimi doing anyway?"

"Her new health food business is picking up well. Palmon has really helped her in figuring out which plants would be good to consume and which plants would enhance physical health and natural beauty. Who would have guessed Mimi would have such a green thumb?"

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"Let's see here… do we have enough places to audition for the country? I want to make sure there's a fair shot for everybody," said Matt Ishida as he leaned back in his office chair. Seeing him in an office environment may seem strange but he wanted to take a breather from his music. His band had been an underground sensation and had burst out into the mainstream for J-Rock. After four studio albums in six years, he and his band agreed to take a temporary one year hiatus to refocus their musical drive. Shortly after the split, his father had approached him with a brilliant concept for a new show.

Considering how reality TV's popularity was not too far behind the public's new fascination with Digimon, the man thought it would be a brilliant idea to combine the two in a sense. Basically, have Gabumon act as host for _Japanese Idol_ and have a celebrity judge panel. Many artists and musicians have been notified of this show and have expressed interest in joining the panel when they heard Gabumon would host.

"It'll be fine, Matt. If you need extra advice, you could always watch old episodes of _American Idol_ to get a feel on how to do _Japanese Idol_," stated Gabumon.

Matt chuckled a little. "That's some good advice, Gabumon. Do you mind getting me some coffee while I finalize this proposal?"

Gabumon nodded and walked out of the office. He smelled the aroma of the coffee beans being boiled and turned right. By the time he reached the small kitchen, he was greeted by two familiar sights. Before he could get in a word, Biyomon gave him a cheerful greeting. "Hi, Gabumon! You're surprised to see us?"

"Yes but I'm glad to run into some old friends. What are you two doing here?" He noticed that Sora had matured into a beautiful young woman and changed her hairstyle to a simple ponytail. She was also dressed formally in a business shirt and skirt.

"The network contacted me and asked me to come in for a special news segment. They're going to talk about the fitness levels of kids today and since I've been working with kids in the Odaiba Recreation Department for years, they wanted to hear what I have to say how things are today." Sora took a sip of her coffee. "The network is quieter than I expected."

"Right now, they're broadcasting the big game so activity around here won't pick up until the game ends. Speaking of the game, I wonder how Davis and Ken are doing."

**OOOOOOOOOO**

The game had been a test on their stamina. Because of the larger field than what they had played in elementary school and professional opponents playing tighter defence, Ken and Davis had a harder time generating offence for their team. So far, the game was tied at a goal each and the last minutes of the second half were ticking down.

Davis currently had the ball and was doing his best to weave in and out of the Korean players but he knew that they would eventually gang up on him to take possession of the ball. He quickly checked up to see the positions of his team mates. They were all adequately covered but Ken quickly indicated with a few facial expressions that he can complete the play if Davis started it. 'Here we go!' Davis kicked the ball as hard as he could towards the goal. It looked like it would be an easy save for the Korean goaltender but at the last minute, Ken darted out in a manner reminiscent of his old self who ruled the field back when the Dark Spore affected him. The young man leapt in the air to make one more kick and redirect the shot inside the Korean net.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

A small device started beeping rapidly until a young man with short brown hair in a business suit picked it out of his pocket to glance at the contents. His eyes widened at the news they read but he composed himself. "Please excuse me, gentlemen. I'll be back." He got up from his leather chair and stepped out of the conference room, making sure to close the door.

The other members in the meeting were confused until they heard a faint "**YES!.!.!.! GOOD JOB, GUYS!.!.!.!.! WHOO HOO!.!.!.!.!" **moments later.

"Er… Mr. Kamiya is certainly an interesting one, eh?"

"Indeed."

**OOOOOOOOOO**

"Considering that last goal was the one that sends the team to the World Cup final, what are the odds that Davis will keep rambling on and on about it?" asked Kari from her position on the couch in her apartment. The TV had just zoomed in to showcase her friend doing his victory dance and waving his goggles around.

TK felt his girlfriend get into a more comfortable position to snuggle into his right side. "I wager at least two weeks. But that is technically a great achievement so we should just let him go on for a bit."

"Threaten him with duct tape after a week?"

"I thought you're supposed to be the nice and sweet Child of Light," answered TK in an amused tone.

She smiled. "Well… that would count as an act of kindness for everybody else. How long is your vacation time?"

"I got the week off but I really want to get back to writing out my editorials to further spread the word about the Promised Land." What TK just referred to is the dream future that he wanted… a bright future where there is a flowing harmony between the human and Digital Worlds.

"I understand but you don't have to rush the spread the word. We're on the way there already," whispered the young woman softly.

"True enough. Right now, I just want to be with the ones I love." He looked down gently at her and caressed her cheek.

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_Looking up the endless sky…_

_Searching for reasons of life…_

_We find the Promised Land…_

_Kitto… (For sure)_

Tamaki Nami – Promised Land

**OOOOOOOOOO**

It took almost four years but now, I can put this part of the fic to rest. I owe this last bit to Alex Warlorn who revived my Digimon drive through that one fateful MSN conversation and his help in finding me a richer Digimon encyclopaedia. And of course, the revival of the Digimon anime through Digimon Savers helped a bit as well.

I took some information from the Japanese Teacher editorials. I'm unsure if you heard of them but they're quite interesting and show another side of Japan.

Here's the 'Hard Gay' article - outpostnine(dot)com(slash)editorials(slash)teacher86(dot)html

There is no real single article for 'Kancho'. It's sort of spread out all over various articles where the teacher continues to defend himself from kancho attacks.

All that's left is an epilogue (although you guys already received quite a bit about the futures of the story characters) and a better sense of closure. I hope that I can do this last bit of closure justice. Especially the Flamedramon/Renamon aspect. I haven't touched it in ages!

To anyone who stayed with this fic from when I posted the first chapter of 'Beyond the Other Side' back in 2001… thanks for sticking around. And if you want to meet up with me, I'll be heading to AnimeNorth 2006 next week. If you can catch me there and mention that you're one of my readers, I may just reward your efforts with a pack of Pocky.

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'According to this map, Gennai's residence should be three miles to the west. The sooner I deliver this package to him, the quicker that Miss Amaterasu can send me back to my proper Digital World in my proper transdimensional plane.' The figure jogged at a quick pace through the desert. He bore a resemblance to Leomon however he had a white mane, a larger sword, a red headband, a large black and unbuttoned jacket hanging over his shoulders and there was a red scar on his chest.

The last thing BantyoLeomon remembered was being engaged in combat against Barbamon's forces which consisted of mostly Tankdramon, Sealsdramon and Commandramon. He fought alongside a human named Tsurugi Tatsuno who had transformed into a pure DigiSoul to cause his partner Digimon to evolve to ShineGreymon. There had been an explosion of Dark Matter… and then oblivion.

When he regained consciousness, he was stuck in a fresh Digimon body being hatched in Elecmon's nursery. He knew that if he was going to get back home and finish the fight with Barbamon, he had to get back in shape as soon as possible. He threw himself into several fights and after nine years, he had returned to his original form.

The next part was figuring out a way to get back home but considering that his data had somehow been transported through a slipstream to end up in this Digital World, he was at a loss. Then she appeared and gave him an opportunity to get home. It would take time on her part since the fabric of time and space had to be manipulated carefully to get desired results. In the meantime, he only had to do a simple task for her and deliver an important package to Gennai. A part of him questioned how he was getting so much for so little but his sense of justice told him that he needed to get home as soon as possible and see what events have transpired while he had been away.

His musings were interrupted when he felt a familiar surge of energy. "Dark Roar!" BantyoLeomon easily back flipped out of the way and saw a blue cyborg Digimon approach land from above. "I've finally found you, Bancho."

"Who are you and how do you know of my title?"

"I am… or rather I was the leader of the Eighth Tankdramon Squadron. But enough talk. Prepare to die!" Darkdramon charged forward with his lance mounted on his right arm. BantyoLeomon whipped out his own sword with his left arm while keeping the package out of harm's way with his right arm.

"You are still willing to follow Barbamon even though he is one of the Seven Demon Lords? Don't you have any sort of conscience?" asked the Beast Man Digimon as he blocked the attack.

Darkdramon quickly backed off. "Lord Barbamon was only made in the image of a demon because of Christianity! They claimed that there was only one God and created the image of all other Pagan Gods as devils! What I'm fighting for is to force the world to acknowledge that the Catholic Church is far from the righteous avatar that they claim to be!"

"**And you had to murder innocent humans and Digimon in your quest?.!.?" **In his rage, BantyoLeomon tossed the package away so that he could have full use of his right arm for the battle. "In the names of those you have murdered, I will claim justice for them! Flash Banchou Punch!"

"Giga Stick Lance!"

As the two mega Digimon battled, nobody noticed that the package had spilled its contents as soon as it hit the ground. A fierce wind blew and covered an envelope that started out with "You are invited to a wedding…" with sand.


End file.
